Alex Watt is a member of the 41st Corp of Drums at Fort George National Historic Site in Niagara-On-The-Lake.

He joined us to discuss the May 1813 American attack on the town of Newark, Upper Canada and the capture of Fort George.

This episode was recorded on May 6, 2026

https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/on/fortgeorge

Author Tom Taylor who has written a number of War of 1812 themed books joins us to discuss the Battle of York.

Tom's website: https://www.tomtaylor.ca/books

On April 27, 1813 a major American flotilla arrives off the town and garrison of York (modern day Toronto) and conducted an amphibious assault.

Learn more in this episode!

Prominent American Historian and War of 1812 expert, Don Hickey and Program Manager at Fort Meigs, John Thompson join us once again to discuss the construction of Fort Meigs in Ohio during the winter/early spring of 1813 and its immediate siege by the British.

This episode will also cover the May 1813 Battle of Fort Meigs.

Fort Meigs: https://fortmeigs.org/

Don Hickey: https://hickeyhistory.com/

Recorded on April 19, 2026

Prominent American Historian and War of 1812 expert, Don Hickey and Program Manager at Fort Meigs, John Thompson join us to discuss the actions on the River Raisin in the Michigan Territory on January 1813.

Battle of Frenchtown

Battle of the River Raisin

Fort Meigs: https://fortmeigs.org/

Don Hickey: https://hickeyhistory.com/

Recorded on April 19, 2026

As discussed at the opening of the episode, here is a link to the Chronology of the War of 1812:

https://www.napoleon-series.org/military-info/Warof1812/2016/Issue26/Warof1812Chronology.pdf

Always happy to have Don join us and to share his knowledge!

Don talked about the key events from the first year of the conflict, the year 1812.

You can learn more about Don and his books at: https://hickeyhistory.com/

This episode was recorded on March 30, 2026

Thomas has previously supported us with a presentation at our 2025 conference in Mississauga, ON where he talked about the British capture, defense and ultimate loss of Mackinac. That video can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/live/7lAH7o4Y...

Thomas Malcomson, PhD, was as a professor in the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, at George Brown College, Toronto, for 32 years. He taught courses in psychology, dying, death and bereavement, and in the history of labour, genocide, and eugenics. He has written and presented extensively on the British Navy at the end of the long 18th century, with a focus on the War of 1812, and the following decades on the Great Lakes. He is the current president of the Canadian Nautical Research Society, which publishes the journal The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord.

Thomas discussed the activities of the respective navies during the year 1812. Ship to ship frigate activities on the Atlantic and the beginning of the building of naval forces on the Great Lakes.

This episode was recorded on March 13, 2026

A conversation with Faye Kert around the presence and impact of Privateers during the War of 1812.

This topic rarely gets much discussion but was in fact a significant part of the naval activity during the war!

Her book can be found at: https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/authors/faye-m-kert?srsltid=AfmBOorrVerU9xt4QNqe__JFv6Wr1Zo_0rXZH_l2vfJTs-zfp3ffzC0H

Faye Kert graduated from Queen’s with a BA in History. She has worked in communications for the Canadian Museum of Civilization (now the Canadian Museum of History) and the Canadian War Museum. She also spent three summers working for Parks Canada as an underwater archaeologist on a 16th –century Basque whaling ship in Red Bay, Labrador. Other archaeological work included excavating Hollandia, an 18th-century Dutch East India Company ship in the Scilly Islands (1977) and the Mary Rose, a 16th- century warship owned by Henry VIII, sunk off Portsmouth in the UK (1981).

Her Master’s work was completed at Carleton University and examined Canada’s Atlantic privateers and their little-known contribution to the War of 1812. This was followed by a Ph.D. from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands in 1997. She has published a number of articles, book chapters and books. Her latest book was published in 2015 by Johns Hopkins University Press. Privateering: Patriots and Profits in the War of 1812 is an analysis of the little-known world of Canadian and American privateering and looks at the war from the privateers’ perspective.

Recorded on March 9 ,2026

Historian, archivist and author Luc Lepine joined us to discuss Lower Canada and its local militias.

The militias in Lower Canada (Quebec) were both English speaking regiments and French speaking regiments.

They took the form of:

• Sedentary Militia
• Select Embodied Militia
• Volunteer Full Time Militia (Voltigeurs)

Join us to learn about the historic origins of Lower Canada militia, how that changed after the British conquest and then its evolution for the War of 1812.

Biographies for the significant people mentioned are:

Charles-Michel Dirumberry de Salaberry: https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/charles-michel-dirumberry-de-salaberry

Francois Vassal de Monviel: https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/vassal_de_monviel_francois_7E.html

Recorded on February 25, 2026

In the year 1812 we look at the setup and early affairs on the east end of Lake Ontario in both New York and Upper Canada and also down the St. Lawrence River towards Montreal.

We welcomed a new voice in Tim Abel from Carthage, New York (near Sackets Harbor).

Tim has a PhD in Anthropology.

33 years experience in archaeological field methods.

- 30 years experience in laboratory methods.

- 30 years supervising work crews on surveys and excavations.

- 27 years as project director on surveys and excavations.

- 17 years as principal investigator

- 10 years as an instructor of anthropology.

Author or coauthor of 34 professional articles, 2 theses, 4 book reviews and a monograph.

- Author or coauthor of more than 50 conference presentations.

- Author or coauthor of more than 160 cultural resource management reports.

Specialties and Interests

Ceramics, Great Lakes Prehistory and Ethnohistory, Late Archaic/ Early Woodland political economy, the St. Lawrence

Iroquoians, War of 1812.

Recording date: February 19. 2026

For this episode, we turn to Jim Hill from the Niagara Parks Commission to talk to us about the nature of affairs in the year of 1812 prior to commencement of the war and then turn his attention to the conflicts along the Niagara River to close the year out including the Battle of Queenston Heights, the death of Major General Sir Isaac Brock and the lesser known Battle of Frenchman's Creek.

Jim Hill is a long-standing heritage professional with the Niagara Parks Commission (NPC), where he plays a key role in preserving and interpreting the cultural and historical legacy of the Niagara region. He has been with NPC since 1996, contributing decades of leadership in heritage planning and public programming.

Professional Background:

• Hill has worked in heritage interpretation and historical programming for multiple Canadian organizations, including Parks Canada and the Friends of Fort George prior to joining the Niagara Parks Commission.
• He is responsible for developing and managing programs that tell the stories of the people, places, and events that have shaped the Niagara area’s past. This includes Indigenous history, early settlement, military heritage, and the broader cultural landscape.

Role at Niagara Parks Commission:

• At NPC, Jim Hill holds the title Senior Manager, Heritage & Legacy (sometimes styled Superintendent of Heritage and Legacy), overseeing heritage projects, interpretive planning, and commemorative initiatives across NPC sites.

Military and Personal Background:

· Beyond his heritage career, Hill is a retired Captain in the Reserve Army with the Royal Canadian Artillery, bringing both historical and practical military insight to his work.