Consul General Nina Fite commemorated the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Plattsburgh with distinguished guests on Thursday, September 11, including a number of descendants of soldiers who participated in the battle. 2014 marks the Bicentennial of the Battle of Plattsburgh in which American forces stopped the British advance during the War of 1812. The unexpected American victory thwarted the British plans to control Lake Champlain and led to the signing of the Treaty of Ghent which ended the War of 1812 on Christmas Eve, 1814. With the Mayor of Plattsburgh, the Consul General laid a wreath to honor the soldiers who died at the battle and to mark 200 years to peace between the United States and Great Britain, which at the time included Canada.
On Saturday, September 13, Visa Chief Stephanie Kronenburg participated in the grand parade commemorating the end of the War of 1812. Bands, floats, colonial fife and drum corps, veterans’ groups, historical societies, and scores of bagpipers from Canada and the U.S. filed smartly through the streets of town for over an hour. The Visa Chief joined the Mayor of Plattsburgh, descendants of the battle’s commanders, and representatives from the British Embassy in Washington, the Royal Canadian Navy, the City of Cobourg, Ontario, the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, and the New York State legislature on the reviewing stand.
