The War of 1812 (14 page)

Further west, the Americans took the initiative because they controlled Lake Erie. They were most successful in rapid hit-and-run raids along the shores of the lake. In May, about eight hundred of them landed at Port Dover and burned every building from there to Turkey Point. The Canadian Volunteers took part in this and other raids during the summer. Several of these raids were directed against Port Talbot. The Canadian traitors wanted to capture Colonel Thomas Talbot, who had founded the Talbot Settlement and whose strict control over the settlers had made some of them hate him. He was also commander of the first Regiment of the Middlesex Militia. Port Talbot was raided in May, July, August, and September. In the August raid, Talbot narrowly escaped capture by running out one door of his house as the raiders came in the other.

The raids continued through the summer and autumn. Homes were robbed, houses, barns, and even crops were burned. Some people were murdered and others taken prisoner. It was a nasty kind of warfare made worse by traitors taking revenge against former neighbours.

By the beginning of July, Major-General Brown had over 3,500 troops, mainly regulars, and about six hundred Indians. Most of the troops were in two brigades, one under Brigadier-General Winfield Scott, the other under Brigadier-General Eleazar Ripley. To defend the entire frontier, Major-General Riall had fewer than 2,500 men. Brown aimed his attack at the defenders' weakest point, Fort Erie.

Early on the morning of July 3, the Americans landed on both sides of the fort. By 5 p.m. they had forced its garrison of 137 men to surrender. The next day, the Americans advanced towards Chippawa with Scott's brigade in front. At each creek the retreating British destroyed the bridge and fired on the Americans in order to delay the advance. They succeeded, for it took Scott nearly seven hours to cover seventeen miles and his men were exhausted by the time they reached the Chippawa (Welland) River. They found the village in flames, the bridge made unusable, and a strong British force on the opposite side. Scott withdrew a few miles and set up camp south of Street's Creek to await the arrival of the rest of the army.

The British force was commanded by Riall, who had hurried there from Fort George and ordered reinforcements to follow. By July 5, he had about 1,550 regulars and Militia and 350 Indians at Chippawa.

South of the Chippawa River, American militia and Indian allies skirmished with Canadian militia and Indian allies. Then Riall, instead of staying in his strong defensive position, crossed the river and attacked the invaders. He thought the American army was smaller than it was and that it could not stand up to veteran British regulars. These American troops, however, were better trained and led than any that had previously invaded Canada. When he saw how professionally they marched and manoeuvred, Riall is supposed to have exclaimed, “Those are regulars, by God!”
¹
In the battle of Chippawa, the British suffered heavy losses and had to withdraw across the river. Two days later Riall was forced to move back still farther as the Americans crossed the river, advanced to Queenston,
and occupied it. But the British still held all the rest of the peninsula and Drummond was coming with reinforcements.

Indian warriors on both sides were horrified at their heavy casualties and many began to return home intending to withdraw altogether from combat. To explain why they had fought on the American side, Iroquois representatives from New York met with Grand River people and at this council, John Norton urged them to become neutral. At the same time, he was trying to persuade Grand River Iroquois fighting men to remain with the British forces, but very few did. Peter Porter on the United States side, similarly, failed to change the minds of Six Nations warriors. Although Norton and a small group stayed with the British, the Indians ceased to be a factor in the military forces after the summer of 1814.

Brown sought to gain information and keep the defenders off balance by sending out scouting and raiding parties. These were often guided by the Canadian Volunteers who knew the area. Not surprisingly, local residents hated these patrols and many skirmishes occurred. Merritt, who took part in this fighting, wrote in his journal, “The militia were daily skirmishing and driving in the States' parties, who were plundering every house they could get at: they even plundered women of everything they had.”
²
On July 18 there was a clash near the village of St. David's; the next day, American troops burned it to the ground. When General Brown heard of this, he dismissed the militia officer responsible, thus indicating that men under his command would be required in future to act more responsibly towards civilians.

Brown expected Chauncey's ships to bring him supplies and to support his attacks on the British-held forts. But Chauncey, even with two additional ships that now made his fleet more powerful than Yeo's, decided that he would watch his opponent and remain near Sackets Harbor ready to defend it. In both words and actions, he made it clear that he gave low priority to co-operation with the army. In addition, he fell sick with fever that confined him to bed for more than two weeks.

As days passed and no help arrived, Brown felt increasingly insecure at the end of a long and exposed supply line. On July 24, he withdrew to Chippawa. Riall decided to follow Brown and so, that night, sent about 1,200 regulars and militia under Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Pearson up the Portage Road. The next day, Riall led the rest of his troops in the same direction, and soon after came Drummond leading the 89th Regiment. They were heading towards a hill on Lundy's Lane where it crossed the Portage Road.

First Regiment of Foot (The Royal Scots) was sometimes referred to
as “Pontius Pilate's Bodyguards” because it was the most senior
regular regiment of the British army. The first battalion arrived at
Quebec in August 1812 and served at various posts in Lower
Canada. In 1813, the men fought at Sackets Harbor, Fort Niagara,
and Black Rock and in 1814 at Longwoods, Chippawa, and Lundy's
Lane. The regiment has “Niagara” on its colours. The 4th battalion
served at Quebec from June 1814 until July 1815.
[Courtesy of Canadian Park Service.]

When Brown heard about the British advance, he sent Scott with his brigade back to retake Queenston and prepared to follow with the rest of the army. They would march north along the Portage Road and so meet
the British at Lundy's Lane. The outcome of these converging movements was the battle at Lundy's Lane, which, for several reasons, was both a confused and a prolonged action. The American army advanced in parts with Scott's brigade well ahead. Sections of the British forces were retreating and others advancing because their commanders were not sure of the size of the invading army. Furthermore, the struggle lasted from about 6 p.m. until midnight, which meant that much of it was fought in the dark, illuminated only by a weak moon and the flashes of guns and muskets.

As the Americans advanced, Riall ordered Pearson to withdraw from Lundy's Lane. He thought Brown's whole army was attacking and did not know that Drummond was coming to his support. When Drummond arrived at the hill, he saw the American attack developing and immediately recognized that whoever possessed that high ground would have the advantage. He stopped the withdrawal and sent orders to other detachments to hurry to Lundy's Lane. The key of the position was the hill where British artillery was placed to fire at any advancing force. The Americans tried to take the guns by assaulting the flanks as well as the front. Scott's men almost succeeded in getting around the British left but withdrew after capturing Riall, who had been seriously wounded. The Americans were not strong enough to advance again until the rest of their army arrived.

When Brown arrived, an engineer officer told him that the British were holding “the Key of the position with their Artillery — to secure the Victory, their Artillery, with the height on which it rested, must be carried.”
³
At this time, about 9 p.m., Colonel Hercules Scott came up with some 1,800 reinforcements who had marched nearly twenty miles in the July heat. As they were getting into position, Brown renewed the attack, and his 21st Regiment captured the British guns. Drummond's infantry counterattacked and fierce fighting raged back and forth at very close range. Dead and wounded soldiers lay where they had fallen on a battlefield that was barely illuminated by a new moon. Brown and Winfield Scott were both wounded and although Scott was taken off on a litter, Brown carried on. Drummond, too, though wounded in the neck, continued to command. His troops' final attack faded and firing ceased about midnight. Brown ordered his exhausted army to retreat to Chippawa, he headed in that direction and he turned command over to General Ripley. The British troops and Canadian militia were too weary to do anything but fall asleep on or near the battlefield.

Brown's order did not reach Ripley for some time thereby causing confusion among the senior officers. As well, the Americans failed to remove the British guns, over which so much blood had been shed, and even left behind wounded men.

Both sides suffered heavy losses. Almost nine hundred Americans and over eight hundred British were killed, wounded, or missing, making Lundy's Lane the bloodiest battle of the war. It was also a turning point: Brown's advance into Upper Canada was stopped. This was the last invasion of the province.

Although the Americans had prevailed in the struggle for the guns, they did not act like victors. The next morning, Ripley led two brigades from the camp towards Lundy's Lane, but on seeing British troops ahead, he pulled back to Chippawa. Brown was furious at this retreat, but accepted Ripley's decision. Almost as if they were a beaten army, the Americans prepared to abandon their camp: they threw baggage, camp equipment, and provisions into the Niagara River, burned Street's Mills, and destroyed the bridge over the Chippawa. Ripley wanted to withdraw all the way to Buffalo, but Brown insisted on keeping Fort Erie.

When the Americans had captured the fort, it had only three guns and was open in the rear. It was too weak to be held against a determined attack. Brigadier-General Edmund P. Gaines, who had replaced Brown, set engineers to work to make it stronger. They created a dry ditch and an earth wall around much of the fort and cleared a wide area outside its walls. The fort was defended by some twenty-seven guns as well as by artillery at Black Rock across the river. By early August, the Americans had about 2,200 troops inside this large and now well-fortified camp.

After the battle at Lundy's Lane, Drummond did not pursue the Americans. He gave his troops time to recover and waited for reinforcements. Yet, there is a strong possibility that if he had advanced quickly to Fort Erie, even a small force might have driven the Americans across the river. In the last days of July, the British might have captured the fort as easily as the Americans had on the third.

Early in August, Drummond prepared to besiege Fort Erie. While big guns were being brought from Fort George to blast the defensive works, he camped outside the fort with over three thousand regulars to prevent the Americans from advancing inland. The actual attack on the fort began on August 15, after a bombardment that had begun two days previously. Just after 2 a.m., British columns assaulted the fort in three places.

The Niagara Frontier.

[Reprinted from
The War of 1812: Land Operations,
by G.F.G. Stanley (Toronto, Macmillan of Canada 1983), p. 12–13.]

The largest column (about 1,500 men) attacked the south end but suffered many casualties without achieving anything. The other two columns were met at the north end by heavy cannon and musket fire. After severe losses the survivors of the two columns joined forces, and together they penetrated the northeast bastion. The fighting raged fiercely as the British tried to push into the fort itself. The American defenders were soon reinforced by troops no longer needed at the south end. Drummond, too, sent reinforcements from his reserve, but most were stopped by American gunfire.