she applied for a land grant. Start by checking the information found at, www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy and following the prompts for Loyalists/land.
So what happens if you do discover a name on a muster roll that you suspect may be an ancestor and someone who may have later served during the War of 1812? Many of the Loyalist regiments raised during the revolution came from specific areas in the thirteen colonies. For instance, the King’s Royal Regiment of New York was originally composed of men from the Mohawk Valley in upper New York State. During the war, they were very active up and down the valley. The regiment was raised and led by Sir John Johnson whose family home was called Johnson Hall.
The Johnson home is maintained by the State of New York and is open to the public. At the end of the war the regiment settled along the St. Lawrence River near present-day Cornwall and Kingston, Ontario. Thus, if you discovered an ancestor who served with this regiment, search records in the former colony of New York’s Mohawk Valley and also in the Cornwall and Kingston area of Upper Canada.
There are some excellent histories available on some of the Loyalist regiments. For example, in 1931 the Ontario Historical Society published a book by Ernest Cruikshank about the King’s Royal Regiment, The History and Master Roll of the King’s Royal Regiment of New York, Revised Edition, which was republished in 1984 with the addition of an index, appendices, and a master muster roll prepared by Gavin Watt. As a point of interest, this unit has been recreated by local military enthusiasts and has an excellent web site offering a great deal of information related to the original Provincial Regiment: www.royalyorkers.ca.
It has been suggested by some historians that by 1812 the population in Upper Canada was approximately 70,000+ individuals. Of these, 40 percent were Loyalists and their descendants, former members of British regulars who elected to remain in Canada following their term of service, or immigrants from England.
However, the remainder of the non-Native population was “late Loyalists” or, more specifically, Americans who had come north for free land.[4] So when war was declared, Upper Canada military authorities were a little concerned about the loyalty of these new settlers. For the American military authorities, it certainly made sense to plan any major invasion of the country through Upper Canada.
My own family research in this period began when I received an email from family in England with a copy of an oil painting attached, suggesting that the painting’s subject was a member of my grandmother’s Hinds family. Tradition stated that he had served with the British forces at the battle of Waterloo and before that at the battle of New Orleans. A second reason to research this period was the search for my wife’s ancestor Jean Baptiste Turcott, whom it was believed had served during the War of 1812 and was granted land on Wolfe Island just south of Kingston, Ontario. Two quests necessitated two different approaches to researching War of 1812 records. The first individual would have served in a British regiment — in this case the artillery. I assumed the second was of French Canadian ancestry. Where did I begin?
First establish a historical reference point from which to begin your research. So ask yourself, is it possible that someone could have been involved in the British defeat at New Orleans and later fought at the Battle of Waterloo?
The Battle of Waterloo was fought July 1815 following Emperor Napoleon’s return from his first exile, and the battle of New Orleans occurred January 1815. The incident in New Orleans was a bit of a blunder and certainly an embarrassment for the British. The War of 1812 had actually come to a close with the Treaty of Ghent in December 1814. Word didn’t reach the British forces as they prepared to attack New Orleans and the battle ended in defeat. The Battle of New Orleans, although officially not part of the War of 1812, is still considered a major event in that conflict. To the Americans it was a positive event in a war that had not gone all that well for the United States Army.
Could this individual (Edward or William Hinds) have fought in both battles? The answer is, possibly, “yes.” According to family sources the individual in the picture had served in the Royal Horse Artillery, achieved officer rank, and later died in India. That he may have started in the ranks and become an officer is possible. Rank in corps units (artillery, engineers) was often achieved through ability and not always, as in line regiments, through purchase. If he died in India, he could have achieved officer status while serving with the East India Company’s European Regiments. The company recruited extensively among disbanded soldiers shortly following the war with France.
The second research request offered an interesting all-Canadian element to my research. I would need to access a different set of records to prove a War of 1812 connection. The British Army during this period was divided into line regiments, cavalry regiments, and support corps. Line regiments could be referred to as a regiment of foot (infantry) with grenadier and light companies. Cavalry could be designated as heavy or light while corps units were artillery and engineers. Over the course of history, the artillery could be designated as garrison, horse, or field units. Thus, if your ancestor was in the Royal Horse Artillery you would know that he was part of a gun crew who serviced a field gun (artillery pieces are referred to as guns), drawn by horses. In this period of history the men who “drove” the horses were referred to as members of the Corps of Drivers while those who serviced the gun were recorded as Gunners. Near the end of the war with France, the Corps of Drivers was abolished as a separate unit and amalgamated with gunners as one unit of artillery.
My first suggestion to anyone searching for military ancestors is to start with the medal rolls. Many of the prominent British awards have been indexed and transcribed. This is certainly the case with both the Military General Service and Waterloo Medal Rolls. So what did a preliminary search show? The Waterloo Medal rolls did record a William Hinds, who had served in the Royal Horse Artillery and was entitled to the Waterloo medal with two bars: Badajoz and Vittoria. A search of the British Military General Service Medal rolls showed that he was also entitled to this medal for service with Ross’s Battery of artillery, serving first as a driver and later as a gunner.
The Waterloo Medal was engraved with the recipient’s name and was the first medal issued with a ribbon to general enlisted men. The Military General Service Medal presented for service between 1793 and 1814, was issued with several bars/clasps. Private collection.
Canadians who fought during the War of 1812 were also entitled to the Military General Service Medal. A search of the rolls for this medal did indicate that a Turcott was awarded the medal for service with the Canadian Voltigeurs at the battle of Chateauguay. Further research showed that the Voltigeurs had fought with the 104th Regiment from New Brunswick at the attack on Sackets Harbor. Both the Voltigeurs and New Brunswick Fencibles (104th Regiment) had a Turcott listed in their ranks, although the name on the 104 Muster roll was spelled differently. I already knew the 104th New Brunswick Regiment had recruited extensively in the Province of Quebec before the war. Perhaps they had recruited another Turcott? By consulting a road map, I could see that Sackets Harbor in the United States and Kingston, Ontario, are just across the river from each other. It was possible that Jean Baptiste Turcott had chosen to remain in the Kingston area and settle on Wolfe Island at the end of the war, perhaps applying for a land grant. That he was a member of the militia is indisputable.
The early militia was divided into sedentary units, which were basically farmers or tradesmen who were expected to serve when called upon and then return to their former occupation after hostilities had ended, and fencible units, which were better trained and expected to serve anywhere within their respective colony but not beyond its borders. Many of these better-trained fencible units applied for and were granted line regiment status. Thus, the Royal Newfoundland Regiment served in Upper Canada, as did the former New Brunswick Fencibles when they were granted status as the 104th Regiment of New Brunswick. The 104th regiment won considerable recognition by marching over land from New Brunswick to Upper Canada during the winter without losing a man.
So
