Laura Secord

In the early 1800s, when Laura Secord overheard American soldiers

planning a sneak attack on a British/Canadian outpost, she traveled by

foot through woods, fields, and rivers in enemy territory to warn the

unsuspecting British and Canadian soldiers.

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The United States was still a British colony when Laura Secord was born there in 1775.
A year later, the United States rebelled against Britain in the War of Independence. But
some Americans, like Laura’s father, stayed loyal to Britain and fought against the rebels.
Like many other “Loyalists,” he later moved his family to Canada, where the British still
ruled. They settled in the Niagara Peninsula, near Niagara Falls and the American border.
At that time, there was still a lot of tension between Canadians and Americans. Then in
1812, Britain and the United States went to war again, and this time the Americans tried
to invade Canada. Laura Secord’s husband was seriously wounded in one of the early
battles of that war, at nearby Queenston Heights. She rushed to the battlefield, rescued
him, and brought him home. That was just the first example on record of her remarkable
courage.
A year later, the war was turning into a seesaw struggle, with both sides trying to control
the Niagara area. The Americans had taken over Secord’s neighborhood, and American
officers would show up at her home demanding to be fed.
Apparently it was during one of these meals that Secord overheard them talking about
their next military strategy - a surprise attack on a British/Canadian outpost twelve miles
away. With her disabled husband unable to help, it was up to Secord. Did this petite,