The Yankees Capture York

Detroit: Wayne University Press, 1955. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Wraps. Good. Format is approximately 5.25 inches by 7.75 inches. [4], vi, 37, [1] pages. Map. Notes. Cover has some wear and soiling. This is one of the Cass Lecture series. This pamphlet reproduces the lecture given by historian Milo M. Quaife on the actions of American soldiers in York in 1813. Milo Milton Quaife (1880-1959) was a historian of Michigan and the Great Lakes region. Quaife was born in Nashua, Iowa. He received his education at Grinnell College, the University of Missouri and the University of Chicago. He entered the academic world as a professor at Chicago's Lewis Institute. He entered the historical world officially as superintendent of the Wisconsin Historical Society. He was also secretary-editor at the Detroit Public Library's Burton Collection. He was also a lecturer at Wayne State University and the University of Detroit. He served as editor of the Lakeside Classics historical series from 1916 to 1957. The Battle of York was a War of 1812 battle fought in York, Upper Canada (today's Toronto, Ontario, Canada) on April 27, 1813. 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 Ojibway 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.