Successes notwithstanding, the corps was disbanded on March 14, 1813, when the British, deeming that a more formal and regimented unit would be more suitable for handling military resupply duties, gave the task to its army commissariat. Nevertheless, recognizing the voyageurs’ innate value, the commissariat authorized the raising of its own such corps. On April 8, 1813, the Provincial Commissariat Voyageurs officially entered service and for the rest of the war set about applying the old Corps of Canadian Voyageurs’ skills — with fewer of its lax habits — to maintaining the frontier outposts. As for Jefferson’s words of August 1812, they proved to be as misplaced as they were confident. After four years’ expenditure of blood and treasure in dozens of battles and skirmishes, the war ended with nothing gained by either side, save perhaps for the groundwork laid for a greater sense of national identity in both the United States and the future independent dominion of Canada.

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This article was written by Andrew Hind and originally published in the January/February 2006 issue of Military History magazine.

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