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Thats a mischaracterisation. For most of the war the major British forces were busy with Napoleon, so Canada was defended by a majority of locally recruited troops and militia. This included many "United Empire Loyalists", who had the same colonial origins as the citizens of the US, but a different viewpoint on their relationship with mother Britain. Many of them originated in the US, having retreated to Canada after losing the war of independence. There were also plenty of French-Canadians fighting under the British flag, even while Britain was at war with France.



Not even remotely true. I had this argument on another message board a few years ago. I found a Canadian government web site that listed the Canadian and British units that were present in North America during the War of 1812. The overwhelming majority of British forces in North America were from Britain, not Canada. The Canadian militia rarely stepped outside of Canada. Those forces that invaded Washington, and attempted to invade Baltimore and New Orleans were not Canadian. The naval war, a considerable but often forgotten part of that war, was fought by the Royal Navy. Despite Britain's pre-occupation with Napoleon, considerable effort was put into defeating the United States.

As for determining the winner of the war, the United States lost no territory and ultimately forced Britain to accept its pre-war demands concerning the interference with our commerce in international waters and the impressment of our sailors into the Royal Navy. It certainly was not a British victory although British forces on land had more tactical success. The Royal Navy did not fare nearly as well and were thoroughly defeated in most engagements.
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"Offer them what they secretly want and they of course immediately become panic-stricken."