Video: 'Battle of York 1813

(Tuesday, April 27, 1813; during the War of 1812) — The Battle of York took place today in Upper Canada as a U.S. force defeated the British garrison in present-day Toronto before withdrawing.

An American force supported by a naval flotilla landed on the lakeshore to the west and advanced against the town, which was defended by an outnumbered force of regulars, militia and Ojibwe natives under the overall command of Major General Roger Hale Sheaffe, the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada.

Sheaffe’s forces were defeated and Sheaffe retreated with his surviving regulars to Kingston, abandoning the militia and civilians.

The Americans captured the fort, town, and dockyard. They themselves suffered heavy casualties, including force leader Brigadier General Zebulon Pike and others killed when the retreating British blew up the fort’s magazine.

The American forces subsequently carried out several acts of arson and looting in the town before they withdrew several days later.

Although the Americans won a clear victory, the battle did not have decisive strategic results as York was a less important objective in military terms than Kingston, where the British armed vessels on Lake Ontario were based.