Laura Secord

The most intense fighting occurred along the Niagara and Detroit frontiers. When American forces advanced to attack a British outpost near Beaver Dams, on the Niagara peninsula, Laura Secord learned of their intentions and made a 32-kilometre cross-country trek to warn Lieutenant James Fitzgibbon. En route, she encountered a party of First Peoples warriors. Alerted by Secord, the warriors ambushed the American troops and forced them to surrender at the battle of Beaver Dams on 24 June 1813.

Painting by Lorne K. Smith, 1920 
Library and Archives Canada, C-011053.