📅 On This Day in Military History
1 event across history
American forces crossed Lake Ontario and landed near York (modern-day Toronto), the capital of Upper Canada. After fierce fighting, the British garrison detonated the Grand Magazine as they retreated, killing Brigadier General Zebulon Pike and dozens of American soldiers in a massive explosion. The Americans captured and occupied the town for several days, burning the Parliament buildings and government stores. This burning of York would later be cited by the British as justification for their burning of Washington, D.C. the following year.
The capture and burning of York destroyed critical British naval supplies and the provincial government buildings. The explosion killing Pike denied the Americans one of their most capable commanders. The destruction set a precedent for retaliatory burning that would define the war's later campaigns.
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