War of 1812

War of 1812
1812-1815

Another "Napoleonic" war, almost unknown in Europe, apart from the UK.

Details of the Niagara district, with the Lakes Erie and Ontario.

I don't think I shall be able to show you many monuments of this war - unless I get some help from a good soul from the New World - but there are at least TWO things I can show you.

The treaty was signed at number 8 of the Fratersplein, in the Empire room, on 24 December 1814. This building was a former abbey of Carthusian monks suppressed by Joseph II and bought by Lieven Bauwens in 1796 to install a factory there. Bauwens was the man who had secretly brought the spinning mule from England to the continent. He was a great admirer of the Emperor - who visited him twice, in 1803 and in 1810 - and became mayor of Ghent in 1800. After the fall of the Empire, Bauwens had to flee to Paris and his goods were confiscated. In December 1814, the British delegation resided there and that is the reason why the peace treaty was signed there. It is now the Sint-Jan de Deo institute specialised in mental health care.

VERDRAG VAN GENT
1814-1964

HIER VERBLEEF VAN AUGUSTUS TOT
DECEMBER 1814 DE BRITSE
DELEGATIE GELEID DOOR ADMIRAAL
LORD GAMBIER TIJDENS DE
ONDERHANDELINGEN MET
DE AMERIKAANSE GEVOLMACHTIGDEN
VOOR DE ONDERTEKENING, IN DIT
GEBOUW, VAN HET VREDESVERDRAG
VAN GENT OP 24 DECEMBER 1814.

TREATY OF GHENT
1814-1964

HERE RESIDED FROM AUGUST TO
DECEMBER 1814 THE BRITISH
DELEGATION HEADED BY ADMIRAL
LORD GAMBIER, DURING THE
NEGOCIATIONS WITH THE U.S.A.
PLENIPOTENTIARIES LEADING TO
THE SIGNATURE IN THIS BUILDING
OF THE PEACE TREATY OF GHENT
ON DECEMBER 24TH, 1814.

Admiral Sir James Gambier, for Britain, and John Quincy Adams, for the United States, shaking hands after the signing of the treaty on December 24, 1814.
Source Wikimedia Commons

The American delegation resided in the Hotel Schamp, later Hof van Lovendegem, at the corner of the Veldstraat and the Voldersstraat in Ghent. The building was split in two in 1898, when it was sold.

VERDRAG VAN GENT
1814 - 1964

HIER VERBLEEF VAN JULI TOT
DECEMBER 1814 DE AMERIKAANSE
DELEGATIE GELEID DOOR
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS,
LATER VI^e PRESIDENT VAN DE U.S.A.
TIJDENS DE ONDERHANDELINGEN MET
DE BRITSE GEVOLMACHTIGDEN
VOO DE ONDERTEKENING VAN
HET VREDESVERDRAG VAN GENT
OP 24 DECEMBER 1814.

TREATY OF GHENT
1814 - 1964

HERE RESIDED FROM JULY TO
DECEMBER 1814 THE U.S.A.
DELEGATION , HEADED BY
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS
LATER VI^TH PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.A.
DURING THE NEGOCIATIONS WITH
THE BRITISH PLENIPOTENTIARIES
LEADING TO THE SIGNATURE OF THE
PEACE TREATY OF GHENT
ON DECEMBER 24^TH, 1814.

1814 _ 1964
IN APPRECIATION OF THE HOSPITALITY OF THE PEOPLE
OF GHENT IN 1814 TO THE FIVE AMERICANS NEGOCIATING
THE PEACE TREATY : JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, J.A. BAYARD,
HENRY CLAY, ALBERT GALLATIN AND JONATHAN RUSSELL.
NATIONAL SOCIETY UNITED STATES DAUGHTERS OF 1812.

A commemorative plate was placed there on the 150th anniversary of the signing of the peace treaty. The day after the signing, Christmas day 1814, a religious service of thanksgiving was held in St-Baafs cathedral and on the 8th of January 1815, a large banquet was held in the throne room of the town hall of Ghent.

Maps : Johnston, Alex. Keith, Atlas to Alison's History of Europe, William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London, 1848 and 1850.

Sources :
- http://www.treatyofghent.org/historiek%20nl.htm
- http://www.uppercanadahistory.ca/1812/181210.html
- COLLINS, Gilbert, Guidebook to the Historic Sites of the War of 1812, Dundurn Press, Toronto - Oxford, 1998.

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