The Niagara Campaign Resumes
The heaviest fighting on the northern frontier took place further east, along the Niagara River. To prepare for this campaign, Brigadier General Winfield Scott drilled his brigade seven hours a day for ten weeks in early 1814 at his camp near Buffalo. Even the hard-nosed Scott was impressed with the results. “I have a handsome little army,” he said. “The men are healthy, sober, cheerful and docile.”29 By the early summer the American army had swelled considerably with the arrival of additional regulars under Jacob Brown (who was now a major general and the senior officer on the front), New York and Pennsylvania militia under Brigadier General Peter B. Porter (who had been a War Hawk in the Twelfth Congress), fifty Canadian Volunteers under Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Willcocks, and some 500 Iroquois led by the aging Seneca chief Red Jacket. In all, Brown’s army consisted of 5,500 men.
On July 3 Brown led his army across the Niagara and besieged Fort Erie, which was defended by 140 men under Major Thomas Buck, who offered only token resistance before surrendering.30 After taking control of the British post, Brown dispatched Scott with his brigade and several other units north along the river road and followed with his main force shortly thereafter. Preparing to meet them was Major General Phineas Riall, who had 4,000 men at his disposal. Riall’s force consisted of regulars, fencibles, and some 500–600 Indians. Most of the Indians were refugees from the West, but there was also a band of Grand River Iroquois headed by Mohawk leader John Norton.
To slow down the American advance, Riall dispatched a small force under Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Pearson, who tore up the bridges and skirmished with the advancing army. On the night of July 4 the Americans made camp south of Street’s Creek (now Ussher’s Creek), while the British bedded down not far away just north of the Chippawa River. The next day there was more skirmishing, and that afternoon Brown sent Porter and a party of militia and Iroquois to clear British and Indian skirmishers from a nearby forest on the west. Although Porter’s men accomplished their mission, when they emerged from the woods at the Chippawa River, they ran into the right flank Riall’s army, which had just crossed the river. Overwhelmed, the militia and Iroquois fled back to the American camp.31
The Battle of Chippawa
Realizing that a major British force was headed his way, Brown ordered Scott to attack. The engagement that followed pitted some 2,000 Americans and Indians against an Anglo-Indian force of about equal strength. While an American artillery battery under Captain Nathan Towson pounded the British, Scott coolly maneuvered his men under heavy enemy artillery fire to take up a position along a farm lane. Scott’s men were outfitted in gray uniforms because of a shortage of blue cloth. Riall, who thought the uniforms signified militia, was stunned by the discipline he saw. “Why, these are regulars!” he reportedly exclaimed, thus contributing to an American legend.32 The British advanced within musket range of Scott’s force, but Scott’s long hours of training again paid off, and the Redcoats got the worse of several volleys. When the British right sagged in the face of an American advance, Riall withdrew across the Chippawa and then took refuge in Fort George.
In the Battle of Chippawa, the Americans lost 325 killed, wounded, and missing, the British about 500. The engagement was an important benchmark for the U.S. Army because it marked the first time that an American force had defeated a British force of equal strength on an open battlefield. It also demonstrated the benefits of Scott’s rigorous training methods.33 Scott later claimed that the cadets at West Point adopted gray uniforms to honor his brigade, but the cadets already wore gray because blue cloth was unavailable. Only later did the U.S. Military Academy embrace the notion that the color honored the American army for its performance on the Niagara in 1814.34
Brown next moved his army across the Chippawa River. He hoped that Chauncey would bring heavy guns and additional troops from Sackets Harbor and that the two commanders could undertake joint operations against the British.35 But Chauncey was ill and, as usual, slow to commit his squadron to action. In addition, he resented Brown’s intimation that the navy was the army’s transport service. “The Secretary of the Navy,” he archly told Brown, “has honoured us with a higher destiny—we are intended to seek and to fight the enemys fleet—This is the great purpose of the Government in creating this Fleet and I shall not be diverted in my efforts to effectuate it, by any sinister attempt to render us either subordinate to or an appendage of the army.”36
Even without naval support, Brown was determined to engage the enemy, although he could not lure the British out of Fort George. In the meantime, petty warfare erupted in the region, which both sides found exasperating. On July 12, Brigadier General John Swift of the New York militia was mortally wounded by a British picket who the Americans thought had surrendered. A week later Lieutenant Colonel Isaac Stone marched a party of New York militia into the village of St. Davids. Egged on by Canadian Volunteers, Stone burned the village to the ground. Brown was furious and sent Stone home, but the damage had been done, and the British had further justification for their depredations in the Chesapeake.
The Battle of Lundy’s Lane
In late July Lieutenant General Drummond arrived at Fort George with British reinforcements. Determined to engage Brown’s army, he dispatched 1,600 men to take up a position on a hill at Lundy’s Lane. Brown responded by ordering Scott to attack. In the evening of July 25 the ever-aggressive Scott attacked the larger British force with about 1,200 men. Both sides were reinforced until about 3,000 men on each side were engaged, and both commanding generals were now present to direct operations. The confused and bloody battle raged into the night, drowning out the roar of nearby Niagara Falls.
Scott’s brigade was shredded by British artillery fire from the south slope of Lundy’s Lane before his men could get within musket range. To silence the British guns, Major General Brown asked Lieutenant Colonel James Miller to storm the British batteries. “I’ll try, Sir!” was Miller’s laconic reply.37 Miller led his regiment to the British batteries and delivered a volley of musket fire at close range before overrunning the British guns with a bayonet charge. British veterans from the Napoleonic Wars claimed they had never seen such a determined charge. “The Americans charged to the very muzzles of our cannon,” said one observer, “and actually bayonetted the artillerymen who were at their guns.”38 The British repeatedly counterattacked but could not retake the guns.
This dramatic illustration, which is often labeled “Miller at Chippawa,” actually depicts Colonel James Miller’s storming of British batteries at Lundy’s Lane. Although Miller was not on horseback and there was probably no one there dressed in buckskins, the picture captures the drama of the hand-to-hand combat that characterized this phase of the battle. (Robert Tomes, Battles of America by Land and Sea)
Hoping to break the main American line, Drummond three times ordered his men to attack but without success. By this time Scott had reorganized his brigade but took more casualties from friendly and enemy fire when he marched his men across the battle front. The battle finally ended when Brown ordered a withdrawal. By this time both sides had suffered so many casualties and were so exhausted that neither could mount another attack.
Colonel Miller called the six-hour Battle of Lundy’s Lane “one of the most desperately fought actions ever experienced in America,” which was no exaggeration.39 This was the bloodiest battle of the war. Brown and Scott were wounded, the latter so seriously that he was knocked out of the war. Both of Britain’s senior officers, Riall and Drummond, were also wounded, and Riall was captured by an American detachment on the British flank. In all, the United States suffered 860 killed, wounded, or missing. Total British losses were about 880. The Americans suffered about twice as many deaths because British artillery fire was so deadly before darkness set in. Even though the United States had withdrawn from the field and failed to carry off the British guns, the Battle of Lundy’s Lane was a draw.40
The Battle of Fort Erie
A
fter Lundy’s Lane, the Americans—now about 2,200 strong—withdrew to Fort Erie. The fort had been gradually strengthened, and now under the direction of two West Point engineers, William McRee and Eleazar Wood, it was further strengthened and greatly enlarged with earthworks to the south to accommodate all the American troops. On August 4 Brigadier General Edmund P. Gaines arrived to take command. Having learned from deserters that the British planned an assault, Gaines made sure his men were ready, and his vigilance paid off.41
Before assaulting the fort, Drummond first tried to deprive it of supplies. On August 3 he dispatched 600 men under the command of Lieutenant Colonel John Tucker across the Niagara River to destroy the supply depots at Buffalo and Black Rock. At Conjocta Creek, however, the British were ambushed by some 300 American riflemen under the command of Major Lodowick Morgan. Morgan had destroyed the bridge across the river, and the destructive fire of his riflemen prevented the British from fording. Complaining that his men “displayed an unpardonable degree of unsteadiness,” Tucker gave up the attack and returned to Canada.42 The casualties on both sides in the Battle of Conjocta Creek were light, thirty-five for the British and ten for the Americans.43
Another operation launched by Drummond nine days later was more successful. On August 12 Captain Alexander Dobbs of the Royal Navy brought six small boats overland, slipped them into the Niagara River, and surprised two American schooners anchored off Fort Erie. As a result of this operation, the British captured the Somers (2 guns) and the Ohio (1 gun). The loss of these vessels made it more difficult for the United States to protect its supply lines and deprived Fort Erie of artillery support from the river.44
The following day the British began to pound Fort Erie with artillery fire. This was a prelude to a risky night attack that Drummond planned for the early morning hours of August 15. 45 A demonstration by Indians on the west side of the fort was supposed to draw attention while the fort was assaulted by 2,300 British troops from the north and south. But the native demonstration never materialized, and the Americans in the fort were ready for the attack. At 2:30 a.m. in a heavy rainstorm Lieutenant Colonel Victor Fischer moved against the southern end of the fort with 1,300 men. Fischer’s men were ordered to remove their flints in order to achieve surprise, but this made it difficult for them to respond when they reached the fort and were fired on. To compound their problems the British discovered that their ladders were too short to scale the fort’s breastworks. Intense small arms and artillery fire soon drove Fischer’s men off.
At the north end of the fort, the British launched a double-barreled assault at 3:00 a.m. Colonel Hercules Scott led 650 men, while Lieutenant Colonel William Drummond (General Drummond’s nephew) led another 300. Both commanding officers were killed, but the British penetrated a bastion, where they engaged in fierce hand-to-hand combat with the defenders for at least a half hour. Gaines and other Americans heard the British officers cry out to “give the Damned Yankee rascals no quarter.”46 With the outcome still in doubt, a powder magazine accidentally exploded, blowing up virtually the entire British assault force and ending the battle. “The Explosion,” reported Gaines, “was tremendous—it was decisive.”47 The British suffered 360 killed or wounded and almost 540 captured or missing. “Our loss has been very severe,” said Lieutenant General Drummond, “and I am sorry to add that almost all those returned ‘missing’ may be considered as wounded or killed by the explosion, and left in the hands of the enemy.”48 Total American losses were only about eighty-five. As the lopsided casualty figures suggest, the Battle of Fort Erie was a clear American victory.49
In the month that followed, the opposing armies exchanged artillery fire and skirmished around the fort. In one skirmish, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Willcocks, the commander of the Canadian Volunteers, was killed, and in one of the British artillery barrages Gaines was seriously wounded. This forced Major General Brown to resume command even though he had not yet recovered from his Lundy’s Lane wounds. When the British began mounting an artillery battery less than 500 yards from the fort, Brown’s officers recommended that the post be abandoned. But the arrival of Brigadier General Peter Porter with 2,000 volunteer militia buoyed Brown’s spirits, and the “Fighting Quaker” determined to try to knock out the British batteries before ordering an evacuation. Brown’s plan was “to storm the batteries, destroy the cannon and roughly handle the brigade upon duty, before those in reserve could be brought into action.”50
This illustration of the defense of Fort Erie during the British night attack on August 15, 1814, was created in 1840 by one of the American participants. Lieutenant E. C. Watmough placed himself in the center of the picture between his fellow officer, Lieutenant Patrick McDonough, and one of the British commanders, Lieutenant Colonel William Drummond, who was killed in the assault. (United States Military Magazine, March, 1841)
Two assault forces were formed. One consisted of 1,200 men, mainly New York militia, under Porter; the other consisted of 800 regulars under Lieutenant Colonel James Miller. In a driving rainstorm in the middle of the night on September 17, the American troops surprised the British and after severe fighting overran two of their batteries and spiked the guns before heavy resistance forced them to retire. The engagement was costly to both sides, the Americans suffering 510 killed, wounded, and missing, the British 720.51 An American officer later described this sortie as “the most Splendid achievement” of the campaign.52 Major General Brown was particularly happy with the courage and discipline shown by the militia, who so often in the past had been a disappointment. “The Militia of New York,” he said, “have redeemed their character. They behaved gallantly.”53
Even before the sortie from Fort Erie had been launched, Drummond had decided to give up his siege and withdraw to the north side of the Chippawa River. His men were running low on food and ammunition, and there were not enough tents to go around. The endless rains that pelted the Niagara that summer left everyone wet, and Drummond feared that this would increase the danger of disease.54
The Battle of Cook’s Mills
In early October Major General George Izard arrived at Fort Erie with a large force of regulars from Plattsburgh. Izard had little combat experience but had seniority over Brown and thus assumed command of their combined force, more than 6,000 men. Izard marched his army north on the river road, rebuilding the bridges as he went until he reached the Chippawa River. Drummond was greatly outnumbered but had established his army in a strong position on the north bank of the river. Izard was unwilling to storm Drummond’s position and could not persuade the British to come out and fight a set-piece battle.55
Learning of a stockpile of grain at Cook’s Mills on Lyon’s Creek about twelve miles west of Drummond’s position, Izard ordered Brigadier General Daniel Bissell to take 900 men and seize or destroy the grain. To meet this challenge, Drummond dispatched 750 men under Colonel Christopher Myers. On October 19 the opposing forces clashed. Although Myers used a 6-pounder and Congreve rockets to good effect, Bissell launched a frontal attack and a flanking movement that drove the British from the field. He then destroyed the grain. In the Battle of Cook’s Mills (also known as the Battle of Lyon’s Creek), the Americans sustained about seventy-five casualties, the British thirty-five.56
The Battle of Cook’s Mills was the last in this series of bloody but indecisive engagements on the Niagara front in 1814. Because Fort Erie was difficult to supply, the Americans blew it up on November 5 and returned to New York.57 The battles of Chippawa and Lundy’s Lane and the two engagements at Fort Erie contributed to the nation’s military tradition by demonstrating that American troops could hold their own against British regulars in close combat. But Brown’s invasion had nonetheless been blunted, and despite the carnage little of strategic importance had been accomplished. The British retained possession of the Niagara peninsula, and with the American army now in winter quarters, the front was quiet for the rest of the war.
The Contest for Lake Ontario
The
British could do no better than hold their own on the Niagara front, but further east, closer to their supply lines, they could be more aggressive. In March 1813 London officials had put Commodore Yeo, a career naval officer, in charge of all British warships on the lakes, but the establishment had remained part of the army. This changed in May 1814 when the British transferred the entire establishment to the Admiralty and upgraded Yeo’s status from Senior Officer on the Lakes to Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty’s Ships and Vessels on the Lakes. This put the full resources of the Royal Navy behind the British presence on the lakes, although it also reduced Yeo’s willingness to cooperate with Governor Prevost.58
On Lake Ontario, Yeo and Chauncey remained cautious in 1814, unwilling to engage in combat without clear superiority. Instead, each hoped to achieve control by putting ever-larger ships into service. At the beginning of the campaign, Yeo launched the Prince Regent (58 guns) and the Princess Charlotte (40 guns). Chauncey countered with the Superior (58 guns) and the Mohawk (42 guns). Later in the year, the British launched the St. Lawrence (104 guns) and began construction on two additional ships-of-the-line, the Canada and the Wolfe. The United States countered by laying down two battleships of its own, the New Orleans and Chippewa, each of which was capable of mounting over 100 guns.
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