U.S Plan of Campaign For 1815 - Aftermath of The War

Aftermath of The War

On the British side, the threat was taken very seriously. The Lieutenant-Governor for Upper Canada, Major General Frederick Philipse Robinson wrote to the British Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, Lord Bathurst,

Had the War continued, it was the intention of the American Government to have interrupted our Transport Communication by the St. Lawrence to the Lower Province in the event of which an attempt at inland conveyance must have been made, or we must have endeavoured to dislodge the Enemy from the South Shore of the River by transferring the seat of War thither. The American General Brown, thinking secrecy no longer necessary, explained to me all that had been in contemplation for the ensuing Campaign, which in my opinion would have answered their expectations.

This alarming scenario, together with complaints made during the war by Sir George Prevost, Commander-in-Chief in Canada, about the inadequacy of the Saint Lawrence as a transport route, spurred the British Government to develop the Rideau River as an alternate route to Kingston. This work was not completed until 1832, at vast expense.

The Americans also proceeded with the construction of all-weather military roads from Sackett's Harbor and Plattsburgh, but these were soon made obsolete by commercially-developed canals and railroads.