1812:Revisited – Vendetta

Through the balance of 1813, neither the Americans nor the British made any significant gains to achieve victory. The biggest issue was with the overly cautious commanders on both sides; Major-General William Henry Harrison failed to exploit the rapid retreat by the British Army after their defeat at the Battle of the Thames. He chose to establish a loose beachhead along the Detroit River. Similarly, the Americans had only briefly pushed their advantage in the Niagara region but ended up only able to maintain a small occupation force in the region bolstered by over-enthusiastic traitors. On the British side, Major-General Francis de Rottenburg had nearly pulled the entire British army back to Kingston; only the steady hand of Major-General John Vincent had prevented such a move and kept Burlington Heights occupied. The biggest defeat for the Americans would be the twin victories by the British at Stoney Creek and Chrysler’s Farm that ensured that Upper Canada would remain connected to the supply lines from Lower Canada and Great Britain. But both sides still needed help with one thing: the availability of troops.

The British withdrawal in October 1813 left a considerable gap in the Niagara region. It allowed the Americans holed up in Niagara to push into the area again, reaching Twenty Mile Creek. At the lead of this renewed occupation was Joseph Willcocks and the Canadian Volunteers, a group of turn-coats who were disgruntled by the British authorities and decided to join the American occupation forces in the summer of 1813. Together, they used their authority to make life miserable for the loyalists still living under a renewed American occupation. Willcocks would arrest and detain the father of William Hamilton Merritt and other loyalist families throughout the region. When William received word of his father, Thomas Merritt, arrest, he expressed a desire to catch Willcocks in the open and kill him. Colonel John Murray and Merritt would hatch a plan to push the Americans back and convince General Vincent to authorise a new outpost at Forty Creek to probe the American positions in the Niagara region. Colonel Murray, with a detachment of the 8th (King’s) Regiment and Merritt’s troop of Provincial Dragoons (a mounted militia unit), moved up and established the post. Merritt would regularly send out patrols, working with local scouts and indigenous allies to probe deeper into occupied territory. While Merritt and Murray received several reports about American patrols and outposts, none could be found when they were investigated. It wasn’t until word was received about a large patrol near Twenty-Mile Creek that contact was made; Merritt’s dragoons made for a quick, short skirmish and put the Americans to fly back to Fort George. At Fort George, the garrison commander, Major-General George McClure (New York Militia), was not in the best position; with winter closing in and the enlistments of the majority Militia garrison coming to an end, he faced a dwindling number of troops, an increasingly hostile local population, and the over-eager Joseph Willcocks. General McClure would choose to abandon the garrison and move across the river to winter quarters in Fort Niagara when word reached him that the British had now pushed up to Twelve Mile Creek. McClure announced the withdrawal on 9 December, much to the annoyance of Willcocks, who approached the General with an idea. Willcocks proposed the destruction of Fort George and the entire town of Niagara, with the idea of denying shelter and supplies to any returning British force. The wanton destruction of private property, while done, was not precisely a civilised move by an occupying army, especially when the region had formally surrendered. McClure agreed with the plan; while it is unknown how enthusiastic he was with the idea, he allowed Willcocks and the Canadian Volunteers to act as the rear guard and put the area to the torch. Little notice was given to the population, but McClure did offer many shelter across the river. Word quickly spread throughout the town as the Canadian Volunteers went house to house, forcing many out before setting the building alight. Some took advantage of McClure’s offer or went to stay with family in the United States or on surrounding property. But many tried to make do with what could be salvaged. The town burned brightly on the horizon, and the smoke billowed up high enough for the British at Twelve Mile Creek to see it; Murry agreed to send Merritt up to investigate. Merritt rode in, forcing the Canadian Volunteers and the few Americans left to fight a rear-guard action before running across the river. Word soon spread, reaching the newly arrived Lieutenant-Governor, Major-General Gordon Drummond. Drummond learned of dark tales of American brutality, probably exaugurated by the survivors and the British troops who first arrived in the town. And while the American government and war department formally distanced themselves from the actions taken by McClure and even stripped him of rank and command, the news of that would be slow to arrive in Upper Canada. Drummond would come on 15 December with a large force of regulars and boats to personally take in the destruction and found many living in rude shelters and surviving buildings in the town and fort and then hatched a plan for revenge.

Two forces were quickly organised; under Colonel Murry, the first would cross the river and take Fort Niagara, followed by a second force under Major-General Phineas Riall to cross and take out Lewiston, New York. On 18 December, under the cover of night, Murray’s forces were ferried across the river by the boats crewed by militia troops. The force, made up of elements of the 1st (Royal Scots), 100th, 41st, and Royal Artillery, landed three miles from the fort. Murry planned to move quickly, having his troops keep their muskets unloaded, flints removed, and bayonets fixed. The garrison at Fort Niagara was small but well-drilled. It comprised elements of the 25th US Infantry and 1st US Artillery regiments. The fort also acted as a hospital for sick and wounded troops. Despite his appreciation for drink, the garrison commander, Captain Nathaniel Leonard, had ensured that each man in the fort knew where to go should an alarm be raised. As Murray’s force moved in, they made quick work of the various pickets along the route to the fort; at one in Youngstown, an American soldier gave up the passphrase at bayonet point. When Murry’s force marched up in the early hours of 19 December, the guards on the postern gate could not make out who was approaching and shouted the challenge. A sergeant in Murray’s column, who could approximate an American accent, responded with the passphrase. The gates opened, and the British rushed in before the sentries knew what was happening. The alarm rang out, and the garrison rushed to their positions. The defenders made the British pay for each building, and the British fought hand-to-hand, battering down doors and killing anyone who got in their way. The north redoubt, French Castle, and Red Barracks fell in succession. The south redoubt would be the last to fall. When offered surrender, the defenders were quick to reject the British demands so much that when the doors were breached, the order to give no quarter was issued, and the whole was bayoneted. General Riall landed in Lewiston but, unlike Murrary, went in with guns at the ready. The alarm had been raised, and many of the garrison made to flee, abandoning their artillery in the process. The fighting was sporadic, with regulars and Canadian Volunteers fighting a desperate rear-guard action against mainly British allied Indigenous troops. Once chased off, the men turned their eyes on Lewiston, hungry for quick revenge. The local population was given time to take their belongings and run. American-allied Tuscaroga came to the aid of the local population. Riall ordered both Lewiston and the village of the Tuscarogas put to the flame before marching off towards Niagara Falls. The British destroyed settlements, outposts and forts along their route of destruction and, by 29 December, were poised to take Black Rock and Buffalo. Landing near Black Rock, an American garrison at Scajaquada Creek was put to flight, raising the alarm. Local commander Major-General Amos Hall would call up any troops that he could muster and begin the defence of the naval post. Hall’s force made the British pay dearly for every piece of ground, attempting to outflank the British line on several occasions, only to find his centre pushed too far back. Finding himself enveloped, Riall turned the defence into a bloodbath, forcing Hall to retreat out of Black Rock and Buffalo. Riall ordered the three schooners docked at Black Rock burned, and then the naval yard was followed quickly by Buffalo. By 1 January 1814, the area had been reduced to ashes, with only five buildings left standing at Black Rock and Buffalo and a Union Flag raised over Fort Niagara.

Despite his failures in the previous year, Major-General James Wilkinson remained in command in eastern New York. He had no intention to let his previous mistakes go unanswered. During the wintering in Plattsburg, he saw his army significantly reduced as an entire division under Major-General Jacob Brown marched out for Sacketts Harbor in preparation for an offensive against Kingston. It also did not help that the British forces from Lower Canada were starting to nip at the border, mounting raids to recover supplies and steal additional ones. For General Drummond, word reached him that the garrison on Mackinac Island was starting to run low on supplies. He needed to establish a new supply route with the loss of Lake Erie and the Detroit River. Drummond took the plans from the first provincial governor, John Graves Simcoe, off the shelf to establish a naval establishment on Lake Huron at Penetanguishene. Putting Lieutenant-Colonel Robert McDouall of the Glengarry Light Infantry in command of a force of Royal Navy Sailors, skilled labourers and a detachment from the Royal Newfoundland Regiment tasked with improving the northern sections of Yonge Street to Lake Simcoe and then pushing on to Lake Huron. The sailors were to crew the only British ship on Lake Huron, HM Schooner Nancy, on St. Joseph Island. Then, a naval yard was constructed, and the garrison on Mackinac Island was relieved. McDouall marched out of York in February 1814. In the west, Lieutenant-Colonel Anthony Butler, Fort Malden’s commander, began sending out small militia raiding forces. The goal was to disrupt British supply lines, destroy British outposts and make life troublesome for the local population. Colonel Butler’s concern was two such outposts, one at Port Talbot and the other at Delaware. On 21 February, Captain Andrew Holmes to destroy both. Captain Holmes rode ahead of a column of mounted militia but was forced to abandon their artillery near Point Pelee because of swampy ground. Riding on a group of local militia engaged the Americans. Holmes quickly drove them off, fearing they would warn the outpost at Port Talbot; Holmes turned north to Delaware. But the militia had not gone to Port Talbot. They also went north to Delaware, raising the alarm of the American force in the region. The outpost commander, Captain Stewart, went to raise the alarm with the local militia commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Matthew Elliott, to bring the Essex Militia to aid in the defence and left his second, Captain James Stewart, in command.

By early March, Holmes had established a fortified camp near Delaware overlooking a creek ravine but had also pushed up a little further. However, a friendly local approached the Americans, warning them that the British at Delaware had been warned of their presence. Rather than pushing on into what could only be a trap, Holmes decided to fall back to his fortified position. When Captain Basden learned of Holmes’ position, they decided to try and lure the Americans out and into another trap. Basden deployed a small irregular force, Caldwell’s Western Rangers to draw Holmes out. It worked, the Americans pursued the Rangers out from their fortifications, and they led the Americans on a merry chase. It nearly worked until Holmes learned of the ambush and ordered his men back. Captain Basden ordered his men forward and approached the American camp by late afternoon on 4 March. With Holmes safe behind their fortifications, the British volley fire proved ineffective, and Basden decided to conduct a direct assault. Basden led the charge personally down into the ravine, and across the narrow bridge across the Creek; for the Americans, it was like shooting fish in the barrel. The survivors struggled up the other side of the ravine on an icy incline; it took an hour and a half with both Captain Basden and another officer wounded before Ensign Mills of the 89th Regiment ordered a retreat. The short engagement and loss of men due to weather saw Holmes ride back to Fort Malden, and the British pull out from Delaware and Port Talbot. By mid-march, Colonel McDouall had blazed their trail up to Lake Simcoe, and while they waited for the spring thaw to open up, the lake began construction of a flotilla of bateaux. General Wilkinson would again march on Montreal in late March; the small garrison at La Colle Mill was blocking his way. The garrison had a strong position with a stone mill and blockhouse; while understaffed, the garrison did have a battery of rockets and plenty of nearby fencible and militia forces ready to respond to any alarm. The British had also done their best to block roads and change signs, all of which, combined with poor weather, hampered Wilkinson’s march to Oddelltown. Wilkinson, undeterred despite the long march, pushed up to La Colle on March 30 and lined up to attack the garrison. Despite having the advantage of men, Wilkinson rode around the entire line, personally directing every aspect of the battle; the British garrison protected in the building fired back, almost totally protected from American small-arms fire. Ground conditions prevented any deployment of artillery, and then the British unleashed their Congreve rockets. The inaccurate rocket fire did minor damage but wreaked havoc on American morale, and the missiles screamed overhead. Taking advantage, the defenders charged repeatedly, each time being repulsed. But the sound of the battle had alerted the nearby reinforcements who marched in; troops of the Canadian Voltigeurs and Fencible Infantry, along with gunboats, quickly turned the tide and forced Wilkinson into retreat. General Wilkinson was stripped of command and rank because of his actions, which allowed Secretary of War John Armstrong to advance George Izard to Major-General and take command of the region.

An ocean away, Napoleon had been having trouble since his failed invasion of Russia in 1812. While he continued to fight the British in the Peninsular War, the formation of the Sixth Coalition opened up a new theatre against Napoleon, forcing him to relocate troops fighting the British by the Spring of 1813. The move gave Napoleon a much-needed morale boost as he enjoyed victories against Prussian and Russian armies in the German states. But it also left Spain wide open. Lord Wellington took advantage of the chance and invaded in the summer of 1813, opening the British to join the Sixth Coalition and Austria. Despite losses in Spain, Napoleon enjoyed continued success in the German states through October 1813. The turning point ended up being the most significant battle in the war, the Battle of Leipzig, which proved to be the turning point against the French Emperor. After Napoleon’s defeat, the Allies offered peace that would allow Napoleon to keep some territory and power and have honour. Napoleon continued to believe in his total victory, which delayed his response. So when Wellington invaded France, Napoleon was caught on the back foot. Despite enjoying some victories in the defense of France, the Allied forces entered Paris on 31 March 1814. The French senate quickly acted, officially deposing the Emperor on 2 April. While Napoleon believed the army would still follow him, they turned against him, a message coldly delivered to Napoleon by Field Marshal Michael Ney. Napoleon would abdicate on 11 April and the subsequent Treaty of Fontainebleau would be particularly harsh. Napoleon was stripped of all power and sent to rule over the hastily formed Principality of Elba. He was only allowed to bring a small amount of attendants some of his material wealth. However, he was also stripped of much of his property in France, and the country was reduced to its holdings before the French Revolution. While there still needed to be an army of occupation, Wellington and the War Office began planning on how to deal with scrappy war in North America. When the word reached North America, the British started to expect reinforcements, and the Americans expected a massive counterattack. On 19 April, now free from ice, Colonel McDouall would launch his flotilla from the Nottawasaga River. By 25 April, he would reach Lake Huron and head to Mackinac Island. In St. Louis, territorial governor Lewis Clark (yes, that Lewis Clark) became concerned about how defenceless his territory was; a small fur trading post, Prairie Du Chen, leaned heavily towards the British. Governor Clark felt that if the British were to take advantage of this, nothing would stop them from sailing south of the Mississippi and taking St. Louis. Clark called for volunteers on a one-hundred-fifty-day enlistment. He convinced a small group of the 24th US Infantry. Lieutenant Joseph Perkins of the 7th US Infantry led the expedition. Governor Clark would join them as they sailed out of St. Louis with great fanfare on 1 May.

On Lake Ontario, the opposing Commodores, James Lucas Yeo and Isaac Chauncy, had been engaging in an arms race, each side trying to build larger and larger ships. Yeo had laid down the kneel of a full ship-of-the-line. However, it was still several months away, and the tide seemed to have been turning in the American favour as Chauncy built frigates. Yeo and Drummond wished to attack Sacketts Harbor a third time after learning the garrison had been reduced to 1,000 troops. However, they also knew they needed more soldiers to successfully destroy the main American naval station on the Great Lakes. General Prevost would not authorise such reinforcements. Rather than attack Chuancy directly, the two men would go after his supply lines, learning of a shipment of heavy guns heading for the frigates and planned to intercept them at Fort Ontario. The small post in Oswego, New York, was one of the main staging areas for supply convoys heading for Sacketts Harbor. The garrison commander, Major George Mitchell, commanded a post that desperately needed repair, rearmament and additional troops. The British squadron departed Kingston on 3 May. Soon, Major Mitchell learned of the force heading his way and sent a courier to intercept the American flotilla and warn them off to stop in Oswego. Mitchell would also call up as many militia troops as he could and set up extra tents to give the appearance of a larger garrison. A storm that swept in on 5 May prevented the squadron from launching their attack. As the weather cleared the next day, Yeo moved two of his big ships, HM Frigate Princess Charlotte and HM Frigate Prince Regent, close to suppress the fort and shore batteries. The smaller ships began to land the troops. A miscalculation put the infantry into waist-deep water, soaking all the ammunition. Undaunted, the mixed force of regulars, fencibles, marines and sailors fixed bayonets and charged ashore. Captain William Mulcaster would lead a group of Royal Navy Sailors with Lieutenant-Colonel James Malcolm’s Royal Marines into the town. The Glengarry Light Infantry took to the woods to suppress any troops found in the woods. At the same time, the overall commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Victor Fischer and his Regiment de Wattville charged the fort. The poor condition of the fort aided the attackers, but the defenders made the British pay. The men clamoured in scaling the earthworks and getting up onto the glacis, at this point, the remaining defenders quickly retreated in disorder. The attackers quickly rounded up any supplies, including arms, ammunition, and foodstuff, before burning the fort. The irony is that despite a second attempt, they never captured the guns.

Colonel McDouall would arrive with much-needed supplies and reinforcement for Mackinac Island on 18 May and took over command of the garrison. The food was most welcomed as the garrison had been on half-rations supplemented by locally sourced food since the winter. The Royal Navy sailors headed for St. Joseph Island to get the Nancy up and running to ferry supplies between the new naval establishment at Penetanguishene. McDouall also began constructing a small fort named Fort George, a simple earthwork structure with a blockhouse at the island’s high point. Governor Clarke would arrive in Prairie Du Chen on 25 May. He would stay a few days before returning to St Louis, leaving Lieutenant Perkins to work quickly to establish a small fortification, Fort Shelby, to defend against any potential British attack. However, Perkins did not realise that the local population was not keen on having an American garrison in their community. Two men slipped out and headed for Mackinac Island to warn the garrison and see if they could send a force to capture the American fort. When McDouall learned about the American garrison and heard tales of violence by pro-American traders against Indigenous communities, he had little choice but to detach several militia units under a hastily promoted Lieutenant-Colonel William McKay to secure the northern Mississippi. As spring turned into summer, the Americans seemed to be gearing up for a renewed offensive push before any major reinforcements arrived from Europe. Chauncy would complete several of his big ships, giving him an edge over Yeo and control of Lake Ontario. Secretary of War John Armstrong began to take advantage of the new younger flag officer corps he had been working towards. While the first half of 1814 proved slow for the war, it led to some of the bloodiest battles and a full-out invasion of the contention United States.

Because of the town’s destruction in 1813, the entire village of Niagara, today Niagara-On-The Lake, relocated closer to the military reserve, and only a handful of buildings still stand from before the town’s destructions, including the powder magazine at Fort George and Navy Hall. There is no plaque standing that commemorates the destruction. Niagara-On-The-Lake rebuilt and was a bustling town and commercial hub within five years of the war’s end and remained so through the 19th Century. Across the river, Old Fort Niagara still stands, with the French Castle being the oldest stone building in the region, original to 1726, along with the original gatehouse and powder magazine. Two redoubts from 1759, built by the British following the fort’s capture during the Seven Year’s War, are also original. Today, the fort is open to the public as a museum and is well worth visiting. The fort also hosts a War of 1812 event over the Labour Day weekend. Plaques to the destruction of Youngstown, Lewiston, and Buffalo are all present in the respective cities. Also in Lewiston is the Tuscarora Heroes Monument, dedicated to the Tuscarora people who aided in the escape of the citizenry ahead of the destruction of their town. The monument is located at Portage Road & Center Street in Lewiston, New York. You can still view the original battlefield of the Battle of Longwoods, located on Longwoods Road, with a memorial cairn at Battle Hill National Historic Site. The nearby Longwoods Road Conservation Area hosts a reenactment at the beginning of May. The LaColle Mills blockhouse is still standing in Île-aux-Noix, Quebec and once housed a local history museum but it appears to have been closed now. A memorial cairn is erected in Edenville, Ontario, on Highway 26 on the Nottawasaga River. The area known as Glengarry Landing marks the site where the Mackinac Relief detachment built and launched their boats. You can also visit the Monument to the Battle of the Nations if you’re in Leipzig, Germany. If you’re on Mackinac Island, you can ascend to the highest point on the island, the former site of Fort Holmes, which has been restored with a blockhouse and earthworks. Additionally, at Prairie Du Chen, Wisconsin, the former site of Fort Shelby is located at the Villa Louis Historic Site is home to a restored blockhouse, ruins of a powder magazine and an old warehouse. Fort Ontario is also still standing in a much newer configuration in Oswego, New York. The site is restored to how it looked during the American Civil War and manned by reenactors from the same period.