The War of 1812 (12 page)

Cartoon depicting the European view of how the Indians treated
and mocked prisoners of war.

[Courtesy of Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.]

Early in October, Wilkinson arrived at Sackets Harbor with all the regulars from the Niagara frontier. He decided not to attack Kingston because it had been reinforced. Instead, he set out with nearly eight thousand men and a large fleet of boats to advance down the St. Lawrence against Montreal. He did not know that Armstrong thought it was too late in the season for such an attack. In fact, Armstrong had decided the troops should go into winter quarters but he had neglected to tell Wilkinson.

As soon as Rottenburg heard of the American advance, he ordered Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph W. Morrison to pursue. His eight hundred regulars along with two small guns went on board sixty bateaux, seven gunboats, and two schooners. These could not pass the rapids below Prescott where Morrison was joined by nearly four hundred men including thirty Mohawk warriors. Wilkinson, with over 7,300 troops employed more than three hundred boats protected by twelve gunboats.

Wilkinson was not expecting any opposition as he advanced. To his surprise, Canadian militia hurried to the riverbank and, hiding behind trees and rocks, took every opportunity to shoot at the invaders. Wilkinson had to land 2,500 soldiers on the Canadian side to drive them away and to protect his boats as they passed through the Long Sault rapids. Learning about the forces pursuing him, he sent more regulars to act as a rear guard. This unit alone outnumbered the pursuers.

The two forces skirmished on November 10 but Morrison wanted to avoid a full-scale battle until he was on ground of his own choosing. He spent the night of November 10 in the home of John Crysler, a prosperous farmer and captain in the Dundas militia. Less than two kilometres away was the American camp at Michael Cook's tavern. Many of the soldiers of both armies had to sleep outside with little to protect them from the cold rain and sleet.

The next day saw confusion among the American leaders. Wilkinson had become increasingly sick during the advance and spent the day in bed on his boat. He supposedly delegated his authority to Major-General Morgan Lewis, who was also ill and in bed on a boat, but continued to give orders to the officer in charge of the rear guard, Brigadier-General John P. Boyd. Not clear what his orders were, Boyd simply waited for the British to appear. He had about 2,400 infantry plus cavalry (Dragoons) and artillery — altogether over 3,000 men to deal with Morrison's little army of less than 1,200.
¹¹
They waited in the rain to see what the British would do.

Between Morrison and the Americans stretched ploughed fields cut across by split rail fences. On his right lay the St. Lawrence where Captain William Mulcaster's gunboats guarded his flank and on his left were swampy pine woods. He could only be attacked in front where the enemy would have to cross two large ravines and two small gullies while also getting through the numerous fences. It was an ideal battleground for his veteran regulars of the 49
^th
and 89
^th
Foot, his artillery, and his skillful skirmishers, the Canadian Voltigeurs and Indian warriors, who would fight in the woods.

The battle began with these light troops firing on the Americans, who drove them back on the main British force. The Americans then made repeated attacks with their infantry but were stopped by steady musket volleys from the British 89
^th
and 49
^th
Regiments, supported by artillery shells. By the time they had brought up their own artillery and cavalry, many of their infantry had used up their ammunition and had begun to retreat. American artillery inflicted severe losses on the
49
^th
Foot, but their infantry could not stand up to a bayonet charge ordered by Morrison. Boyd received an order to withdraw, although both Wilkinson and Lewis denied issuing the order. As his troops moved back, a small reinforcement appeared, but too late to save the day. Boyd's casualties were heavy: more than four hundred killed, wounded and captured while Morrison lost over two hundred men.
¹²

Two days later, an American soldier wrote in a letter “Our troops retreated with great precipitation to the boats, and crossed the river, leaving the British on the field. . . . What appears most extraordinary in this affair is that nearly 1,000 of our troops crossed to the American side during the engagement”
¹³
— which seems to mean they deserted under fire!

Despite this defeat, Wilkinson's force was still the stronger by far, and on November 12, the Americans passed the rapids. But Wilkinson's illness continued, his morale as well as the army's was low, and winter was coming. The invaders realized that they had a long way to go to Montreal and that capturing it would be far from easy.

British cartoon mocking American sea power.

[Courtesy Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.]

Wilkinson and Hampton acting together could have cut the route from Montreal to Upper Canada. However, any hope of this outcome
ended with Hampton's withdrawal to Lake Champlain. When Wilkinson got the news, he was furious. Blaming Hampton for the failure of the invasion, he took his army out of Canada.

It was the ignominious end of the major American effort against Montreal during the entire war. Generals Wilkinson and Hampton soon fell to accusing each other of being responsible for the defeat and anger towards them was widespread among both civilians and soldiers. One officer wrote to his wife, “Never was there an army so completely cursed and damned with the miserable arrangements of stupid asses of Generals as ours.”
¹⁴
Hampton and several other officers left the army or were removed, but the devious Armstrong and incompetent Wilkinson remained in their positions until the next year.
¹⁵

Although the offensive against Montreal failed, it did affect events on the Niagara Peninsula. Very few American regulars were left along
the Niagara frontier. All the posts, including Fort George, were occupied by a few hundred New York militia under the command of Brigadier-General George McClure, a militia officer. The British managed to retake the smaller posts one by one, and by December the Americans held only the fort.

A gunner of the US Artillery.

[Courtesy of Parks Canada Service.]

The American militia's term of service was nearing its end. They began to return to their homes, leaving McClure with no more than one hundred men. Hearing that Colonel John Murray was advancing with a small force, McClure decided to abandon Fort George. Before doing so, he gave an order that would disgrace the American forces and lead to much suffering along the frontier.

Back in October, Armstrong had given McClure authority to destroy Newark if necessary for the defence of Fort George. There was now no reason for McClure to do so, since he was abandoning the fort. Yet on the night of December 10, he ordered the town burned. About four hundred people were forced out of their homes to stand in the cold and snow while the fires were set. Then the Americans crossed the river to Fort Niagara.

Murray's force reached Newark that night and William H. Merritt who was with him, wrote, “Nothing but heaps of coals and the streets full of furniture that the inhabitants were fortunate enough to get out of their houses, met the eye in all directions. Mr. Gordon's house . . . was the only one standing.”
¹⁶

This wanton destruction made many Canadians bitter. They wanted revenge and were not appeased by the American government's statement that McClure's action was unauthorized. Nor was McClure's claim that he merely intended to deny winter quarters to the British forces convincing. He had, after all, left tents behind as well as the buildings of Fort George. In fact, the fort was in better condition than when the British had lost it.

On December 16, Lieutenant-General Gordon Drummond arrived at Fort George and took over civil and military authority from Rottenburg, who went to Lower Canada to take command of the defences there. Born in Quebec in 1771, Drummond had served the British army in Europe, the West Indies, Egypt, and Canada, where, in 1813, he had been made second in command to Prevost. This young, determined, and ambitious lieutenant-general was accompanied by Major-General Phineas Riall. He replaced Vincent, who was ill, while Sheaffe returned to England and Procter, in disgrace because of his defeat in October, was given the unimportant job of command at York.

Murray and Drummond immediately planned an attack on Fort Niagara. McClure, on the other side, feared such an assault and retreated to Buffalo, leaving just over four hundred men in the fort, but their officers apparently enjoyed too much the distractions of gambling and drinking. The British brought boats from Burlington and the militia helped to drag them overland to the river above Fort George. Despite the snow and severe cold, over five hundred men under Murray crossed the river on the night of December 18. In the darkness of early morning they surprised the guards and forced their way through the main gate. The startled Americans — many still in their beds — put up only a brief fight.

The Burning of Buffalo.

[Courtesy of the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society.]

Murray's capture of Fort Niagara was an important gain for the British. They took nearly 350 prisoners and great quantities of military supplies, clothing (including thousands of pairs of shoes!), and blankets. They now commanded the western end of Lake Ontario, which meant that Chauncey could not use his ships to supply troops along that frontier. This would affect later campaigns. Also, the British now held American territory and would keep it for the rest of the war.

Riall, with a reserve force of regulars and Indians under Colonel Matthew Elliott (who was about seventy-four years old), crossed the
next day to support Murray. Since his help was not needed, he advanced on Lewiston, where American guns threatened Queenston. Most of the inhabitants fled. Riall destroyed Lewiston and a few other small settlements. This was the beginning of the retaliation for the burning of Newark.

A call went out for militia to defend Buffalo, and McClure was replaced. But these preparations proved completely inadequate. Leading some 1,500 troops and several hundred Indians, Riall crossed the river from Chippawa on the night of December 29. He captured Black Rock and Buffalo, took supplies, and then burned those villages as well as four armed vessels. The American commander wrote to the governor of New York lamenting, “The flourishing village of Buffalo is laid in ruins. The Niagara frontier now lies open and naked to our enemies.”
¹⁷

The year 1813 had seen the British in North America lose battles, territory, and control of Lake Erie, yet the Americans seemed no closer to victory because several major invasion efforts into Canada had failed. Not one of Armstrong's planned objectives was held at the end of the year. In light of those setbacks and of Napoleon's defeats in Europe, the Americans could not be confident of winning the war in the year to come.