A Brief History
On December 30, 1813, during the War of 1812, arson-happy British troops set the small city of Buffalo, New York ablaze as a means of punishing the upstart Americans. Less than a year later, the British also ignited Washington D.C., the nation’s capital.
Digging Deeper
In fact, the British threated to burn towns down in an effort to extract ransoms from the townsfolk in exchange for not torching the buildings. In this case, however, perhaps the British ire was somewhat justified because it was the U.S. that had declared war on Great Britain in the first place. Of course, there were legitimate grievances against Britain, such as the impressment of American sailors into British service, basically kidnapping them, but those problems had largely been worked out. Perhaps the United States wanted to use Britain’s entanglement in the Napoleonic Wars to its advantage and seize Canada and other territories.
Despite much trouncing, there were some bright spots for the U.S., such as the rousing victory at the Battle of New Orleans, which actually occurred after the war was over, but hey, a win is a win! Americans were so happy with the outcome that the period that followed became known as “The era of good feelings.” (We have not had that for a while!)
When Buffalo was burned, it was still a relatively small town, having only been founded in 1789. The city’s growth and importance only took off once the Erie Canal was opened in 1825, and by 1900, Buffalo was the 8th most populous American city.
Today, you may think of Buffalo as just another declining Northern city in the Rust Belt, like Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Detroit and the like, but it must not be forgotten that Buffalo is not only the birthplace of Buffalo Wings (now you know where they got the name from!), but you can still make a pilgrimage to the place they were invented, the Anchor Bar, and order up some originals, kind of like a U.S. version of Mecca. Hard to believe Buffalo Wings have only been around since the 1960s. Makes you wonder what the heck people ate before then!
History and Headlines officially extends its thanks to the city of Buffalo for having the resilience to bounce back from British bullies and for giving us Buffalo Wings. We salute you!
Question for students (and subscribers): What is your favorite person, thing, or idea to come out of Buffalo, New York? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Buffalo Historical Society. Papers relating to the burning of Buffalo, and to the Niagara frontier prior to and during the war of 1812. Cornell University Library, 1906.
Feltoe, Richard. The Flames of War: The Fight for Upper Canada, July—December 1813 (Upper Canada Preserved — War of 1812). Dundurn, 2013.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="7276 http://www.crackedhistory.com/?p=7276">84 Comments
It’s crazy that something as simple as putting different sauces on chicken wings has had such a huge impact on Amercian culture. No Sunday football party or birthday celebration would be the same with out the wings in attendance.
Dear Mark,
For more craziness, read the discussion at https://www.reddit.com/r/Buffalo/comments/2qty75/today_in_buffalo_history_british_burn_buffalo_in/ about the article!
Sincerely,
Dr. Zarzeczny
I always like to see how cities with so much history translate into the modern world. Buffalo is known for things now that they would have never even thought of then, not to mention the way the city looks and the kind of industry that runs through it. The influence of history on modern cities is really undeniable, and that is very interesting to me.
It is quite amazing to see the difference between modern society and past socities and how they used immoral nature. Back in the day, they would kill or burn down buildings. Now, it is all about talking behind someone’s back or being rude. It seems that violence has become more tame in the present day.
It almost seems like many cities were burnt down during this time period because in my opinion I think people did this to get their point across.
I like this article a lot. The war of 1812 is one that is easy to forget but it could have given us Canada if we had won it.
I didn’t know that type of wings actually got their name from Buffalo.
I wouldn’t be able to imagine cities or towns being burned down in our modern United States. I don’t think it could be accomplished as easily and perhaps bombing a city may be the only way (with our technological advances) to be successful in taking out a city today.
I definitely would like to go to Anchor bar and try some original buffalo wings. It is also interesting to see the shift of population at once Buffalo was in the top 8 and the city of Cleveland was once much higher as well.
By looking at how the city is doing today, I would not have known that it was once burned down. A lot of things have come out of that city and you never would have thought how much destruction it went through.
It is great how Buffalo was able to bounce back the way they did. I never knew the city was ever burned down.
Interesting, didn’t know the city was burned down before. I also didn’t know that is where buffalo wings started.
Very interesting, i had no clue that’s why they call it buffalo wings an that’s where it originated!
i had no clue that buffalo had ever been burned down. glad they were able to bounce back.
Very interesting! Didn’t realize Buffalo had burned down once before.
I’ve always wondered why the call hot sauce Buffalo sauce, now I know. Now if only the Buffalo Sabers could bounce back like the city did, that will never happen though.
“The era of good feelings.” I do not foresee this country, or world, returning to a time like that! — DAVID WARDLE
Will never look at a chicken wing the same again
I already learned a lot of this information from a girl in my speech class who presented on Buffalo. Seems like everyone at this university is from there.
I did not know that Buffalo wings were that new of a invention.
Great story I’ve actually been to Anchor bar
So many instances of alliteration…
Being from Buffalo I found this story very interesting. It really speaks of the resilience of the city to quite literally be reborn from the ashes. (Also, you’re welcome for creating chicken wings).
I never knew that the city of Buffalo was known for the resilience demonstrated in this story. I also wasn’t aware of the city being burned down during the War of 1812.
I did not know that happened in Buffalo during the War of 1812. Very interesting articles, especially when they said something about the buffalo wings.
AM
It never occurred to me that the Buffalo Wing was a relatively “new” invention, or that the name came from the town where they were invented. It must have been devastating to see the entire city of Buffalo burn down, even if it wasn’t the size it is today.
N.W.
I was also unaware of the events that occurred in Buffalo. This was an interesting read.
P.S. The Anchor Bar is so tasty!
Interesting that even after all the burnings and all the casualties, it was an “era of good feelings” that preceded the war. GW
It’s kind of sad that people thought they could just burn down a town to get what they want. Also, very interesting fun fact about the wings, I never knew that!
I did not know that threatening to burn down cities was a viable threat. In addition, I did not know that they actually went ahead with the threat and burned Buffalo
I never knew that Buffalo wings originated in Buffalo… Hmmm, makes sense now!!
It’s crazy that buffalo wings have only been around for about 55 years!
I don’t like buffalo wings :/
the fact that the British gave the people of towns the opportunity to raise a ransom to save their town is unique I would have thought if they really wanted revenge the British would torch the town anyway.
I never thought about Buffalo wings having relation to the actual city. It is so cool that the place they were first created is still there! I would love to go there.
I enjoyed the alliteration in the article title. I also enjoy buffalo wings. I think a road trip to the birth place of buffalo wings is in order.
It seems as threats go eliminating an entire City is about as big as you could get in these times and interesting enough they weren’t bluffing and went through with that they said
I was not aware of British troops setting fire to Buffalo. Burning of D.C. Is what I’ve already studied before. The war of 1812 is fascinating to me probably due to the fact of naval battles been fought so close to home on Lake Erie.
i enjoy this article, but i enjoy buffalo wings better. whoops!
I had no idea the British were burning towns for ransom
money in the war of 1812. I thought they only burned the capital.
I never understood the act of burning down cities that you would try and regain control of. Seems like a waste of money and supplies.
i Never knew that the city of buffalo drew that much attention.
THe battle of New Orleans also made Jackson’s career
The fact that the British were taking random to not burn down towns is sad, I imagine small towns, like Buffalo, did not have much money so they had to suffer by seeing their towns burn. At least the small town of Buffalo recovered and brought us delicious food!
Burning towns down just because. Well that is no good. But just to burn down towns to do it, does not make sense. But good thing the Buffalo came back cause who does not like some good wings.
Burning down cities just because you wanted them? Seems pointless and just devastating for close to no reason.
If we burned down everything we wanted then Apple stores would extra crispy. Plus Britain has so much, is almost impossible to go anywhere they did not have some kind of influence by them. Is it bad that the whole time reading this I thought about Wings.
I never realized that Buffalo wings originated in Buffalo, New York.
I never knew Buffalo had such historical importance.
I now fully intend to order some wings at the Anchor Bar
I really love wings so I actually am glad i read this article. Buffalo doesn’t get enough credit for some of the most delicious food ever.
Isn’t it insane to think that Buffalo wings have only been around for 55 years? Wow.
buffalo wings are probably my favorite food. i enjoyed this article
I love anything hot so wings are amazing
I enjoyed this article because I could eat wings everyday of my life and have no problem with it.
I love wings man you go buffalo
Wings is like my favorite food!
I knew that Washington D.C. was set ablaze; however, reading about Buffalo was new to me. It seems like Buffalo made a quick comeback. I am curious to why Buffalo was chosen by the British to burn down.
Buffalo is probably the city that I have visited the most in the US. I barely knew any history of the city, however, and reading about it was really interesting. The fact that by 1900 Buffalo was the 8th most populous American city is impressive given everything that happened there a few decades ago. I think that demonstrates how hard Americans were willing to work to stand up for themselves.
I knew about the War of 1812, but never about the British setting fire to Buffalo, New York. I think it is interesting that despite how much it endured in the war, it went on to become a major city and be influential to American culture. It left me with the impression of how much we are survivors in this country no matter what happens.
In high school the war of 1812 was a major war topic every year. Discussing between the United States and Great Britain. I was always taught that Washington D.C was set on fire like Mikayla said previously. The writer of this article said that Cleveland, Buffalo, and Pittsburg are declining cities but I think these cities are on the rise. Buffalo being a target point for Great Britain to set on fire has to say something that this city is important to our history and current as well.
I am surprise to read that Buffalo was at 8th most populous American city by the year 1900. Similar to a few other classmates it seems, I have studied this war extensively. I never knew that the British were trying to collect ransoms during the tirade of burning down the city of Buffalo.
I never knew buffalo was such a populated city! It’s sad to heard Cleveland in a list of declining cities in the rust belt but Cleveland really is on the rise at the moment! The British weren’t making any friends burning down American cities. If the British wanted a lasting relationship with the colonies they probably should have handled things a little differently.
Ahhhh good ole Buffalo. Somehow wings are always involved. It seems odd that England would choose a city such as Buffalo in that time period, but hey, they came back strong with wings 150 years later. Maybe the English delayed the invention of wings, and for that there can be no “good feelings”.
Living so close to Buffalo, I am surprised that I never knew the British set Buffalo on fire. I also was shocked to find out that Buffalo was the 8th largest city in America in the early 1900s.
Yes, sincere thank you to Buffalo for inventing the Buffalo wings. On a serious note, it is a shame to see the decline of Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Detroit. These cities were a huge part of American history, and it is a shame to see them down today.
Lighting a city on fire, what a horrible way to get your point across! There’s got to be a more efficient way.
The burning of cities to receive ransoms seems quite extreme, however, they were at war with the U.S. Since being at John Carroll I have met a lot of people that are from the Buffalo area, and I was surprised to learn from this article that it had been torched in its early days.
I would like to think a lot of those “declining northern cities like Cleveland” are not really declining. Burning a city down is terrible regardless of economic circumstance, and you never know what can come from a city or when it may grow tremendously.
Although it was said that Buffalo was a “relatively small town”, burning it is extreme. The British loss of America was a bit devastating, but burning was an uncalled for reaction.
I cannot believe people would set towns on fire back then to get their point across. At least Buffalo was not as populated then as it was by 1900. I also never heard of “The era of good feelings.” The people must have been really happy back then to have an era named after good feelings.
If you really look back at terror attacks in our countries history I don’t think you can get much worse than actually setting our capital on fire.
And now I’m hungry. The British during these times seemed obsessed with burning towns. Little do they know it takes a lot more than that to stop us!
Burning a whole city is the worst think you could possibly do the amount of money damages, and the loss lives and shelter imagine how long it would take to fix, and said it was small its easier for everything to be destroyed.
Buffalo wings have only been around since the 1960’s?! I would have never thought that! It makes sense now was to why they are called buffalo wings too. I had no idea they came from buffalo.
Hard to be thankful for anything in this article but at least Buffalo wasn’t a big city and of course, you have to be thankful for buffalo wings.
I actually went to the Anchor Bar last year and the wings were pretty good. I thought it was really cool eating in the place where the Buffalo Wing was created.
Wings came from Buffalo?? Who would’ve known haha
After reading this article, I want to go to Buffalo just to go to the place where Buffalo Wings were created.
I had no idea that Buffalo wings were such a modern invention!
I did not know that is where Buffalo wings got their name from that is very interesting.
Go Buffalo!! Wings are my favorite finger foods.
This is one of the only times I am glad a city burnt.. Buffalo wings are so good!
God bless Buffalo for giving us oh BQQ chicken wings that America lives for.