Which Canadian woman warned British forces before the Battle of Beaver Dams?

Laura Secord warned British forces before the Battle of Beaver Dams.

In June 1813, Secord learned from American soldiers staying at her Queenston home that U.S. forces planned to attack the British outpost at Beaver Dams. She then walked roughly 17 miles through difficult terrain to reach Lieutenant James FitzGibbon near present-day Thorold, Ontario.

Secord encountered a First Nations encampment on the Twelve Mile Creek, and the warriors brought her to FitzGibbon. Her information confirmed reports that Indigenous scouts had already gathered about the American advance. On June 24, a combined British and Indigenous force defeated the American column and captured hundreds of soldiers.

A common mix-up is treating Secord as the battle's military commander: she was a civilian messenger, while FitzGibbon commanded the British outpost. The story also belongs to the wider Battle of Beaver Dams, not the nearby fighting at Queenston Heights or Stoney Creek.