Simcoe
had decided to make Toronto (at that
time called York) the capital of Upper
Canada, and the government, the first
parliament buildings and the town
were established one and a half miles
east of the fort. During the War of
1812, on April 27, 1813 combined American
Army and naval forces attacked York
from Lake Ontario, overrunning Fort
York (see Battle of York). As the
British abandoned the fort, they set
the powder magazine to blow up, killing
and wounding several hundred American
soldiers and producing such a loud
explosion that people were able to
hear it from Fort George. This would
only be rivaled by an explosion of
black powder the British set off when
they were unable to bring with them
said powder in their retreat from
Corunna under Moore around the same
time in the Napoleonic campaign in
Europe.
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