Browse "Military Engagements"

Article

Steele Narrows Battle

Steele Narrows Battle, at Loon Lake, 95 km north-east of Lloydminster, scene of the last shots fired in the North-West Resistance on 3 June 1885.

Article

The Battle of Ogdensburg

 Prescott, located 112 kilometres downriver from Kingston, was an important transhipment point where merchantmen exchanged cargo with the bateaux from Montréal. Ogdensburg, New York, lay on the opposite shore.

Editorial

Montcalm, Wolfe and the memory of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham

The following article is an editorial written by The Canadian Encyclopedia staff. Editorials are not usually updated.

Article

The Battle of York

A crushing defeat for the British in the War of 1812, the sacking of York began on the morning of 27 April 1813. At dawn, a flotilla of 16 American ships under Commodore Isaac Chauncey made its way to the capital of Upper Canada, York [Toronto]. Landing to the west, the Americans suppressed the small group of warriors defending the shore, while knocking out the town's meagre batteries. The American force of approximately 1,700 men easily assumed control. With the fort poorly defended by an undersized garrison of 700 soldiers and backed by an unenthusiastic (indeed, almost wholly absent) militia, the British general, Sir Roger Hale Sheaffe, retreated. He left behind two local militia officers to negotiate the terms of surrender.

Article

Seven Years’ War (Plain-Language Summary)

The Seven Years’ War (1756–63) was the first global war. In North America, Britain and France fought each other with the help of Indigenous allies. At the end of the war, France gave Canada (Quebec) and Ile Royale (Cape Breton) to Britain, among other territories. This is the reason that Canada has a British monarch but three founding peoples — French, British and Indigenous. (This article is a plain-language summary of the Seven Years’ War. If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry Seven Years’ War.)

Article

The War of 1812 (Plain-Language Summary)

The War of 1812 was fought between Britain and the United States between 1812 and 1814. The war ended in a stalemate but had many lasting effects in Canada. It guaranteed Canada’s independence from the United States. It also gave Canadians their first experience working together as a community and helped develop a sense of nationhood. (This article is a plain-language summary of the War of 1812. If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry War of 1812.)

Editorial

Alexander Dunn at the Battle of Balaclava

The following article is an editorial written by The Canadian Encyclopedia staff. Editorials are not usually updated.

Education Guide

Think Like a Historian: The Liberation of the Netherlands

The Think Like a Historian project is a series of videos and accompanying learning tools designed to help educators and students analyze and interpret primary sources. This edition of the series focuses on Canadian experiences in the aftermath of the liberation of the Netherlands.

Article

Battle of Vimy Ridge

The Battle of Vimy Ridge was fought during the First World War from 9 to 12 April 1917. It is Canada’s most celebrated military victory — an often mythologized symbol of the birth of Canadian national pride and awareness. The battle took place on the Western Front, in northern France. The four divisions of the Canadian Corps, fighting together for the first time, attacked the ridge from 9 to 12 April 1917 and captured it from the German army. It was the largest territorial advance of any Allied force to that point in the war — but it would mean little to the outcome of the conflict. More than 10,600 Canadians were killed and wounded in the assault. Today an iconic memorial atop the ridge honours the 11,285 Canadians killed in France throughout the war who have no known graves. This is the full-length entry about the Battle of Vimy Ridge. For a plain-language summary, please see Battle of Vimy Ridge (Plain-Language Summary).

Collection

War of 1812

The War of 1812 (which lasted from 1812 to 1814) was a military conflict between the United States and Great Britain. As a colony of Great Britain, Canada was swept up in the War of 1812 and was invaded a number of times by the Americans. The war was fought in Upper Canada, Lower Canada, on the Great Lakes and the Atlantic, and in the United States. The peace treaty of Ghent, which ended the...

Article

Ypres: Inexperienced Canadians Hold the Line

"Here was the world's worst wound." — Siegfried Sassoon, "On Passing the New Menin Gate" (1928) In early October 1914 the British Expeditionary Force left its positions on the Aisne River in France, moved to the left of the Allied line, and joined the Race to the Sea. While advancing northeastward, into the Belgian province of West Flanders, they collided with strong German forces advancing westward toward the Channel coast. The British and their French...

Video

Dieppe Raid