Trump Marks 211th Anniversary of Battle of Chippawa
On July 5, 1814, on the plains of Chippawa, near the shores of Lake Ontario, the United States left its adolescence as a nation, and took its place among the great powers of the world, with a stirring victory over the British Army. At the Battle of Chippawa, a seminal battle in the War of 1812, the true might of the United States Army was revealed in full glory in a victory that rekindled American pride and respect for the Army, and foreshadowed the rise of the United States as the greatest military power that the world has ever seen.
When the first shots of the War of 1812 were fired, the United States Army was outmatched and underprepared to fight the then-greatest power in the world, Great Britain. To reform our Nation’s military, Secretary of War John Armstrong Jr. established “Camps of Instruction” in New York to instill readiness and discipline in his troops. Guided by strong military leadership and rigorous training from the likes of General Winfield Scott and General Jacob Brown, the United States Army was transformed from ragtag regiments into a finely-honed professional force-changing the course of the war and paving the path to unrivaled American military dominance.
On the morning of July 5, 1814, the British launched a surprise attack in Chippawa along the Niagara River in Ontario, Canada. General Scott’s brigade of regulars wore the gray uniforms of American militiamen, leading the British to believe that they were facing undisciplined troops who would quickly retreat, unable to match British battlefield prowess honed over years of conflict in the Napoleonic Wars. And yet, as the two armies exchanged volley after volley of musket fire and artillery barrages, the intrepid American Soldiers were the ones who heroically held the line, and it was the British who were forced into an embarrassing retreat. Recognizing his grave error, the British General Phineas Riall famously cried out, “Those are regulars, by God!”
That day, the American Army decisively defeated the enemy, protected the American homeland, and inspired a new wave of unity, patriotism, and urgently-needed military morale in our war-weary nation. America’s resounding victory at Chippawa will forever be remembered as the moment that the United States Army took its place among the great armies of the world, and showed itself to be capable of defeating any threat to the safety and security of the great American nation.
As we commemorate this epic battle, we honor the memory of the valiant warriors who fought and died to defend the sovereignty of our young Republic. To this day, the proud legacy of the Battle of Chippawa endures in every Soldier who proudly wears the uniform of the United States of America.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/07/presidential-message-on-the-211th-anniversary-of-the-battle-of-chippawa/