With its beginning in an obscure quarrel over British press-ganging of American sailors, and its ending with a treaty that gave both sides what they started with, the War of 1812 has been judged by some historians as fruitless, futile, and unfortunate. For some of those who fought it - troops, militia men and Six Nations Warriors at Queenston Heights and Lundy's Lane and naval forces on Lake Erie - it was a bloody and terrifying battle. For others, such as the American Isaac Chauncey and his British arch-rival, James Lucas Yeo, it was an ever-escalating game of maritime one-upmanship.

The shipbuilding contest began as soon as war was declared. Both American and British military strategists believed that Great Lakes supremacy was the key to winning the conflict. At his Sackett's Harbour base on Lake Ontario, Commodore Isaac Chauncey commanded a small squadron of converted merchant schooners. He contracted a New York shipwright to build the 26-gun Madison, and in April of 1813, he set off to battle. At first, Chauncey set his sights on nearby Kingston; he changed his plans, however, when British reinforcements trekked from Fredericton, New Brunswick to man the British garrison. Instead, he sailed to York, where his army counterpart, General Henry Dearborn, forced a quick surrender. Chauncey then transported Dearborn's army to further confrontation in Niagara.

James Yeo, British naval commander of Lake Ontario, took advantage of Chauncey's absence to launch an invasion of Sackett's Harbour. Although American forces were few, there was no clear British victory. Ever protective of his precious vessels, Yeo refused to bring them within range of enemy fire. Behind the stone walls of their redoubt, the Americans held sway, setting fire to their ships to keep them from falling into British hands. The British retreated, having diminished, but not destroyed, the naval power of the Americans. With its wood still green, the General Pike, a brand new frigate in the harbour, had failed to catch on fire. It was salvaged and subsequently sailed by the Americans.

The Sackett's Harbour conflict sparked a frenzied shipbuilding race, and an inconclusive, hit-and-run pattern of Lake Ontario battle that lasted throughout the war. As both commanders feverishly launched new ships - Yeo's carefully fitted out with every shining detail of British naval pride, Chauncey's simpler and smaller but packed with munitions and long-range guns - the two forces frequently met but never truly fought. Chauncey, it was said, feared defeat more than he craved victory, while Yeo's Lake Ontario monopoly on both manpower and supplies was blamed, at least in part, for British Captain Robert Barclay's loss in the Battle of Lake Erie.

Ships were still being built by both sides when the war ended in December of 1814. But they were never launched. The Treaty of Ghent put an end to the fighting, and a border line was drawn through the middle of the Great Lakes. Life returned to normal for everyone except Britain's First Nations allies, who failed to receive the territorial protection for which they had fought and died.

South Bay Schooners

It was the 19th century age of sail, and as the hammers of Prince Edward Island shipbuilders rang through the Hillsborough shipyards of Canada's eastern coast, a similar sound could be heard far to the west, on the shores of Ontario's Prince Edward County. Blessed with ample forests of pine and oak, rich agricultural lands and 800 kilometres of sheltered shoreline, the little island in eastern Lake Ontario, had much in common with its larger maritime counterpart.

With Lake Ontario on its south shore, and the Bay of Quinte to the north, Prince Edward County was well-positioned to capitalize on its lake-faring potential. Between 1830 and 1890, dozens of schooners and scows, and steamers were built in the shipyards of South Bay, Milford, Port Milford, Hallowell, Timber Island, Marysburgh, Point Traverse, Picton, Wellington and Rednersville.

The Mary of Milford, the Ellen of Milford, the Morning Star, and the Plough Boy were all launched from simple, rural construction sites, their names reflecting their pastoral heritage. A few large 3-masted schooners, such as the Huron and the W.R.Taylor, were produced at Port Milford in the 1870's, but most Prince Edward County vessels were modest in size. Sturdy enough to make the trip to Kingston or Oswego, they also fit into the small coves and natural harbours of the County's shores. Many of the South Bay schooners were owned and operated by County farmers, who took full advantage of the opportunity to market their crops.