A memorial gathering

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A memorial gathering for a one-time enemy. Veterans and guests were on hand at the Naval Confederation Garden at Hamilton’s Confederation Park to honour lost American lives during the War of 1812 today.
The stars and stripes on Canadian soil. A salute to 53 American sailors, lost to a Lake Ontario storm during the War of 1812. The Naval Memorial Garden marks each that perished aboard the Hamilton and the Scourge. 200 years removed, but the company is full hearted. The Hamilton and Scourge weren’t war vessels, they were merchant ships pressed into service by a desperate US Navy now history tells us a squall took them down, but there were other factors says CRD. Robert Williamson “They were designed to carry weight below the water line, and when you end up putting all these heavy guns on the upper deck that makes them unstable, top heavy.”

The ships were found 88 metres deep in 1973 attracting even Jacques Cousteau years later. The deep near freezing temperatures preserve the ships, a national historic site and owned by the city of Hamilton since 1980. some gathered have made the sail to the site.

Silence is observed, a lament is sung. A war memorial for lives lost, no matter the side.