In 1813, Gen. George McClure ordered the burning of the Upper Canadian town of Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake). In retaliation, the British captured Fort Niagara and burned down Buffalo. McClure was widely reviled on both sides of the border. In 1817, seeking to recover his reputation, he published this book. In it, he assigns blame to Secretary of War James Armstrong and criticizes the manner in which the United States raised and trained its soldiers during the war.
For a detailed description of the work, see the accompanying report, “Playing the Blame Game in 1817,” by Xavier history majors Matthew Kwiatkowski and Caleb Childers.
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"Playing the Blame Game in 1817" (PDF 300KB)
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