On a spring morning in 1813 the largest amphibious force in American history to that point – 6,000 troops aboard 140 vessels – stormed ashore near the mouth of the Niagara River, quickly routed the British garrison and captured Fort George. It was a textbook operation, the second consecutive American victory and a promising sign that events of 1813 would redress the military calamities of 1812. Journalist and author James Elliott has compellingly reconstructed one of the least understood actions of the War of 1812, in the novel Strange Fatality. James Elliott, author of the critically-acclaimed Strange Fatality: The Battle of Stoney Creek, details just how astonishingly close southwestern Ontario came to statehood.
James Elliott is a Canadian journalist and author with a keen and abiding interest in early North American history. With the Hamilton Spectator he wrote widely on the War of 1812 on subjects ranging from the Bloody Assizes to the Burlington Races. He worked on several episodes of the CBC’s Gemini Award – winning Canada: A People’s History both as a consultant and a special-skills extra. He is also the author of the critically acclaimed If Ponies Rode Men. James Elliott lives in Hamilton, Ontario, with his wife, Irene, four miles from the Stoney Creek battlefield.
Wednesday, October 20th
7:00pm – 8:30pm
Parks Canada Discovery Centre, Hamilton Harbour
Free!