Haws served as a private in the 1st Regiment of Leeds Militia in Upper Canada during the War of 1812, though there is no record of him receiving an officer’s commission from the British military. (See “Nominal Return of the Flank Companies of the 1st Regiment of Leeds Militia, 1812,” microfilm t-10379; and Muster Roll and Paylist, Reuben Sherwood’s Company, Johnstown District, 25 July–24 Aug. 1813, microfilm t-10382, Adjutant General’s Office, Upper Canada, War of 1812, Upper Canada Returns, Nominal Rolls and Paylists, Record Group 9, Series 1B7, Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, ON.)

Adjutant General’s Office, Upper Canada. War of 1812, Upper Canada Returns, Nominal Rolls and Paylists, 1812–1815, Record Group 9, Series 1B7, microfilms t-10379–10392. Returns, Nominal Rolls, and Paylists, 1795–1846. Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, ON.

John Colborne (1778–1863), a British Army officer and colonial administrator, led a regiment at the Battle of Waterloo, governed Upper Canada (1828–1836), and commanded British forces in North America (1838–1839) and Ireland (1855–1860). (“Colborne, John,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, 137–144.)

Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. 9, 1861 to 1870. Toronto: University of Toronto Press; Les Presses de l’Université Laval, 1976.