Sose Sononsese and John Pegeon Omeme
Military General Service Medal awarded to Sose Sononsese. NAM 2002-05-51
'Live your life so that the fear of death can never enter your heart.' - Tecumseh, Shawnee leader (1768-1813)
The War of 1812, fought between Britain and the United States primarily on the frontiers of Canada, is today little known in the United Kingdom. Its heroes too are largely forgotten. But the successful defence of Canada helped initiate a new sense of Canadian identity, including even the North American Indians who lived there.
When, in 1813, a United States army first advanced on Montreal, it was defeated by 400 Canadian militia and Canadian Indians at Chateauguay. A second attempt, by 1600 US troops, was also defeated by a mixed force of 800 British soldiers, Canadian militia and Canadian Indians at Chrystler’s Farm.
Indian Contract .65 in pistol, supplied by the Board of Ordnance for the War of 1812. NAM 1998-07-34
The North American Indians and British soldiers who fought on the British side during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1793 – 1815), had to wait until 1848 before they finally received campaign medals. Sose Sononsese and John Pegeon Omeme were two of only 103 surviving Canadian Indian ‘Warriors’ to receive their medal. Nevertheless, with this award it might be said that the North American Indians who fought for Canada and the British Empire had at last been remembered.
