Battle of Fort George: A paper read on March 14th, 1896

Chapter II: Part 2

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The Secretary of War had warned him to be careful to employ a sufficient force to ensure success. Seven thousand men was the number deemed requisite. "If the first step in the campaign fails," he wrote plaintively, "our disgrace will be complete. The public will lose confidence in us. The party who first opens a campaign has many advantages over his antagonist, all of which, however, are the results of his being able to carry his whole force against part of the enemy's. We are now in that state of prostration Washington was in after he crossed the Delaware, but like him we may soon get on our legs if we are able to give some hard blows at the opening of the campaign. In this we cannot fail provided the force we employ against his western posts be sufficiently heavy. They must stand or fall by their own strength. They are perfectly isolated, send, then, a force that shall overwhelm them. When the fleet and army are gone we have nothing at Sackett's Harbor to guard. How would it read if we had another brigade at Sackett's Harbor when we failed at Niagara?"

The undisturbed control of Lake Ontario by his fleet gave the American general a still greater advantage than his numerical superiority. It was understood that the British squadron would not be able to leave Kingston for at least a week, but two small vessels were detached to watch that port while the remainder assembled at Niagara to cover the landing.

Vincent was accordingly thrown entirely upon the defensive. Had he only had Dearborn's army to contend with, superior as it was, he might have entertained a reasonable hope of being able to maintain his position but the presence of the fleet would enable his antagonist to select the point of attack at will and even to land a force in his rear.

Nor were the fortifications along the river in a satisfactory state. The chief engineer had examined them during the winter and reported that Fort George was still in a "ruinous and unfinished condition," although the parapet facing the river had been somewhat strengthened. He had recommended that it should be completed as a field work and that a splinter-proof barracks capable of sheltering 400 men should be built within, and the upper story of the blockhouses taken down to place them on a level with the _terre pleine_. But these suggested improvements could not be carried out for lack of materials and workmen. At this time the fort mounted five guns; one twelve, two twenty four pounders, and two mortars. On the left fronting Fort Niagara were no less than five detached batteries armed with eleven guns, five of which were mortars. All of these works were open in the rear, and could be enfiladed and some of them taken in reverse by an enemy approaching on the lake. Six other batteries had been constructed along the river between Fort George and Queenston, two at Chippawa and three opposite Black Rock about two miles below Fort Erie. All of these posts required men to occupy them and there were besides thirty odd miles of frontier to be constantly patrolled and guarded. About one-third of his regular troops and two-thirds of the militia were unavoidably stationed along the upper part of this line extending from Queenston to Point Abino, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Cecil Bishop. Vincent retained for the defence of the eleven miles of front between Queenston and the mouth of the Four Mile Creek, thirty gunners of the Royal Artillery with five field pieces, under Major Holcroft, 1050 regular infantry, 350 militia, and about fifty Indians. This force was subdivided into three diminutive brigades of nearly equal numbers, the right under Lieut.-Colonel Harvey being detailed to guard the river, and the left under Lieut.-Colonel Myers, the lake front of this position, while the third under his own command remained in readiness to support either of these when attacked. Fort George was garrisoned by Ormond's company of the 49th, and a detachment of militia artillery amounting in the whole to about 130 men. The gunners serving with the field artillery being not more than half the usual complement, additional men were attached from the infantry. The batteries were entirely manned by volunteers from the regulars and militia. The whole force was turned out every morning at two o'clock, and remained under arms until daylight. The staff officers set a conspicuous example of activity and watchfulness. Colonels Harvey and Myers, accompanied by their aides patrolled the lines the whole night through and slept only by day. As the enemy continued their preparations for nearly a week after the return of their fleet, the effects of the prolonged strain soon became apparent in the exhausted condition of both the officers and men. At first, General Dearborn's movements seemed to indicate that an attack would be made by crossing the river above Fort George, and on the 24th of May the whole of the British troops were kept under arms all night. About three o'clock in the morning the enemy was distinctly heard launching boats at the Five Mile meadows nearly opposite a station occupied by Lieut. (afterwards Major General) R. S. Armstrong, R. A., who by command of the vigilant Harvey, immediately began to fire in that direction with a six pounder field gun and the nine-pounder mounted in a battery at Brown's Point. The Americans replied briskly with two six-pounders and continued their efforts until they had put ten boats in the river. But if they had intended to cross at this place, they soon abandoned the attempt, and when day dawned all of these boats were seen on their way down the river with a few men in each. As they came within range the guns of Fort George began firing, which instantly drew upon that work the fire of no less than sixteen heavy guns and mortars mounted in Fort Niagara and the adjacent batteries. The twelve pounder in Fort George was soon dismounted by a shot which shattered its carriage, and every building inside was set on fire by the shower of shells and red-hot shot which rained upon it. The gunners were driven by the flames from the twenty-four pounder beside the flagstaff, but the unequal contest was still gallantly maintained by a similar gun in the cavalier and a smaller piece in the north-western bastion until Major Holcroft perceiving that the barracks were totally consumed and shells bursting in every corner of the place sent orders to this handful of undaunted men to cease firing and retire under cover. The gun at Mississauga Point remained silent by order of Colonel Myers who hoped by this means to deprive the enemy of any excuse for turning their artillery upon the village, and the other detached batteries seem to have taken little part in the contest. Having destroyed all the buildings in Fort George and effectually silenced its fire, the Americans discontinued the bombardment about two o'clock in the afternoon.

The lake front of the British position was then closely reconnoitred by boats from the fleet, sounding the shore in every direction and occasionally venturing within musket shot of some of the batteries which remained silent, partly from scarcity of ammunition and partly through fear of provoking a renewal of the cannonade. Buoys were placed to mark the stations the ships were to occupy next day when they engaged the batteries on the left of Fort George and covered the landing.

On the part of the British some ineffectual efforts were made to repair the damages of the morning. The tackle and carriage of the gun at the flagstaff in Fort George had been totally destroyed by the flames, and could not be replaced, while the ring-bolts of another gun at the light house had been drawn by the recoil, and little service could be expected from it. Only a small picquet was stationed in the fort during the night, and the remainder of the garrison lay upon their arms on the common about half a mile in the rear in hourly expectation of an alarm, with the other brigades on either flank.

Shortly after reveille had sounded next morning, a rocket was seen to rise into the air from Fort Niagara and a single gun was fired at Fort George. This was the signal for all the American batteries to begin a cannonade which was not returned and ceased at the end of half an hour. Long after the sun had risen a dense fog hung over the river and lake, effectually concealing all objects on the opposite side except the dim outline of Fort Niagara. Nothing could be seen of their troops, most of whom had been embarked soon after midnight, at the mouth of the Four Mile Creek. At daybreak Generals Dearborn and Lewis went on board Commodore Chauncey's flagship which immediately got under way, followed by the remainder of the fleet and the immense flotilla of batteaux and other boats filled with soldiers. Hours passed away and the entire armada remained almost motionless waiting for the rising of the fog. Finally when the fog banks rolled away 16 vessels of different sizes were descried standing across the mouth of the river at a distance of about two miles from land, followed by no less than 134 boats and scows, each containing from thirty to fifty men, formed in three compact divisions one behind the other. At a signal from the flagship the entire fleet tacked and stood towards the Canadian shore, the small boats wheeling by brigades and carefully preserving their alignment. Their approach was gradual and deliberate, being favored by a gentle breeze, which, however, scarcely raised a ripple on the glassy surface of the lake. The schooners _Julia_ and _Growler_ each armed with a long 32-pounder and a long 12-pounder mounted on pivots, by making use of their sweeps entered the mouth of the river and opened fire on the crippled battery near the lighthouse while the schooner _Ontario_ of similar force took up a position near the shore to the northward so as to enfilade the same work and cross the fire of the two first-named vessels. Two guns and a mortar in Fort Niagara also concentrated their fire upon this battery, which was occupied by a few men of the Lincoln artillery under Capt. John Powell. Only a single shot was fired from the gun mounted there when it again became unmanageable and the gunners were soon afterwards driven out by the incessant fire directed against them from different quarters. At the same time the _Governor Tompkins_ of six guns engaged the one-gun battery near the mouth of Two Mile Creek in flank while _Conquest_ of three guns anchored in such a position as to fire directly into it from the rear, which was entirely open and unprotected. Resistance in this case was obviously out of the question and it was immediately abandoned. The _Hamilton_, _Scourge_ and _Asp_ anchored within short musket shot of the shore, a few hundred yards further west, nearly opposite a group of farm houses called Crookston, which was the place selected for landing the troops. The three largest vessels, the _Madison_, _Oneida_ and _Lady of the Lake_ drew more water and were in consequence obliged to remain at a greater distance, though still well within effective range of every part of the level plain beyond the landing place. The united broadside of the fleet amounted to fifty-one guns, many of them being heavy long-range pieces mounted upon pivots which could fire in any direction, and the weather was so calm that they were afterwards able to increase the number by shifting guns from the other side. The whole of the artillery in Fort Niagara and the batteries on that bank of the river had also opened fire. Two sides of the British position were thus simultaneously assailed by the fire of more than seventy guns and mortars which swept the roads and fields in every direction with scarcely a shot in reply. A picquet of the Glengarry Light Infantry which had been stationed with about 50 Indians of the Six Nations under Captain John Norton among the thickets near the mouth of the Two Mile Creek hastily retired to avoid utter destruction by the storm of missiles hurled against their covert. Two Indians were killed and several wounded before they could escape.

A heavy column of troops was then discovered marching from the American camp in rear of Fort Niagara near Youngstown. This consisted principally of dismounted dragoons and heavy artillery commanded by Colonel Burn who had been instructed to cross the river there and intercept the retreat of the British garrison towards Queenston. Their appearance had the effect of detaining a large part of Harvey's brigade on that flank to watch their movements.

It was about nine o'clock when the landing began at Crookston in the following order. The advanced guard in twenty boats was composed of four hundred picked light infantry selected from several regiments, Forsyth's battalion of riflemen, and the flank companies of the 15th United States Infantry, amounting in the whole to about 800 rank and file, with a detachment of artillery in charge of a three-pounder field piece, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Winfield Scott, an able and energetic young officer who had been taken prisoner at Queenston the year before, and was destined to be the future conqueror of Mexico. This force was strictly enjoined not to advance more than three hundred paces from the water's edge before it was supported by General Boyd's brigade of infantry, with Eustis's battalion of artillery and McClure's rifle volunteers on its flanks. This was succeeded by Winder's brigade with Towson's artillery, and Chandler's brigade with Macomb's artillery, which were instructed to form upon Boyd's right and left respectively. Each of these brigades must certainly have numbered not less than 1500 officers and men. The reserve was composed of the marines of the fleet and a picked body of 400 seamen which were landed but not brought into action.

The entire fleet continued to fire over the heads of the men in the boats and effectually screened their advance until they reached the shore and formed on the beach under shelter of the steep clay bank. Captain Hindman of the United States Artillery, a very gallant young officer who was in command of the detachment with the gun attached to the advance guard, is mentioned as the first man to reach the shore. So far they had not met with the slightest opposition, but when they began to ascend the bank, the artillery fire from the ships slackened and they were briskly attacked by three companies of the Glengarry Light Infantry, two companies of Lincoln militia, and the Grenadiers of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment who had been partially sheltered during the cannonade in a ravine two or three hundred yards distant. The effect of their musketry was sufficient to cause the American advance guard to retire under cover of the bank once more and the fleet recommenced its fire. Lieut.-Colonel Myers then succeeded in bringing forward the remainder of his brigade, increasing the force assembled in the ravine to forty men of the Newfoundland Regiment, ninety of the Glengarry Light Infantry, twenty-seven of Captain Runchey's negro company, one hundred Lincoln militia and 310 of the 8th or King's regiment. Several American authorities agree in the statement that they twice attempted to ascend the bank and were twice driven back by this determined handful of men. After they had succeeded in forming upon the plain, General Boyd declared that for "fifteen minutes the two lines exchanged a rapid and destructive fire, at a distance of only six or ten yards." The official returns of casualties establish the fact the whole of his brigade consisting of the 6th, 15th and 16th United States Infantry was brought forward to the support of Colonel Scott's advance-guard, making a force of about 2,300 men opposed to 567. Whenever practicable the ships continued to fire with destructive effect on the attenuated British line. Colonel Myers fell desperately wounded in three plans when leading the first charge. Every field officer and most of the company of officers were soon killed or disabled, and at the end of twenty minutes close fighting the survivors gave way, leaving nearly three hundred dead and wounded on the field. They were rallied at a second ravine some distance in the rear by Lieut.-Colonel Harvey, who brought up with him several companies of the 49th, and a six-pounder field gun under Lieut. Charlton, which had been stationed near Fort George.

Lieut. Armstrong with two other guns, had also been directed to proceed to the support of Lieut.-Colonel Myers, but upon advancing along the road parallel with the lake near Secord's house, he was suddenly assailed from both flanks by a body of riflemen, whose fire wounded his horse and one of his men, and a belt of thick woods prevented him from joining the remnant of that brigade, which was then in full retreat. While engaged in examining the road in front, Armstrong came unexpectedly upon one of the enemy's riflemen whom he made prisoner, and discovering that he was in danger of being surrounded, retired hurriedly to the Presbyterian church where the remainder of the field guns had been posted. From this position they covered the retirement of Lieut.-Colonel Harvey's force, which took place about ten o'clock. By that time the Americans had succeeded in landing the greater part of their field artillery, and began to advance slowly in three dense columns, Scott's light troops skirting the woods on the right, with the 6th, 15th and 16th United States Infantry and four guns in the centre and the 18th United States Infantry and four guns moving along the margin of the lake. As they had brought no horses, they were obliged to drag their guns by hand, and their advance was necessarily very slow. While observing their movements, Colonel Harvey was almost cut off by a party of riflemen who had stealthily made their way through the woods with that object. He galloped off unhurt amid a shower of bullets, and formed his brigade in a fresh position behind a third ravine. Major Holcroft opened fire from a six-pounder and a howitzer, but on perceiving the advance of the enemy's light troops on the right, he placed these guns in charge of Lieut. Armstrong, and moved in that direction with the two other pieces. For nearly half an hour the artillery kept up a brisk fire and succeeded in checking the enemy's infantry. Harvey then noticed that their riflemen were again stealing forward through the woods, with the intention of turning his left flank, and ordered a general retreat to the Common beyond the Council House. During the cannonade Holcroft had lost but one gunner wounded and a single horse killed but the limber of his largest gun, a twelve-pounder, was so badly damaged that it went to pieces on the road.

An hour later when the Americans emerged from the village, an eighteen pounder, in the battery next to Fort George was traversed, and fired upon them until they made a vigorous charge and captured it with several of the men engaged in working it.

Vincent joined Harvey with the reserve, and the whole force remained in position on the Common for nearly half an hour. Commodore Chauncey's flagship entered the river and anchored abreast of Fort George. The troops at Youngstown began to enter their boats while the enemy in front were steadily prolonging their lines to the right with the evident purpose of occupying the only possible avenue of retreat, and surrounding the British forces.

At noon, General Vincent despatched an order to Lieut.-Colonel Claus, to evacuate Fort George and join him upon the Queenston road. He immediately began his retreat upon St. Davids, the infantry retiring through the woods, and the artillery and baggage by the road. This movement was so quietly accomplished that it seems to have almost escaped the attention of the enemy who were busily engaged in reforming their line.

General Dearborn had become so much enfeebled by his exertions, and the effects of his previous illness, that he had to be lifted from his horse and supported to a boat which conveyed him on board the flagship, from which he viewed the landing of his troops, although unable to keep his feet for more than a few minutes at a time. The command accordingly devolved upon Major General Morgan Lewis, an officer of little experience and less military knowledge, but an active and influential politician, who had been in turn Chief Justice and Governor of the State of New York and was a brother-in-law of the Secretary of War. He was absurdly fond of military pomp, parade and display, and his opponents delighted to ridicule a speech he had made to the militia when Governor in which he had remarked that "the drum was all important in the day of battle." Having the fate of Van Rensselaer and Winchester fresh in his memory, his movements were cautious to the verge of timidity. An hour and a half elapsed after Harvey retreated before he ventured to advance beyond the village. He had then not less than 4,000 men in order of battle besides the reserve of marines and seamen. His line extended without a break from the lighthouse on Mississauga Point to the river above Fort George. That work was approached with excessive caution as the sound of repeated explosions within, caused them to dread a recurrence of their disastrous experience at York, and even the lighthouse was avoided lest it should be hurled in fragments on their heads. Colonel Scott was in fact unhorsed by a large splinter which broke his collar bone, but there were no other casualties. When the fort was entered, it was found that the garrison had disappeared with the exception of a few soldiers of the 49th Regiment, who were still engaged in dismantling the works. Some of the men were surprised in the act of cutting down the flagstaff to obtain the garrison flag from which the halliards had been shot away, and others were taken prisoners as they attempted to escape through the main gate. More than a hundred sick and wounded were found in the hospital. The village of Niagara was entirely deserted, and many of the houses had been much damaged by cannon shot.

During the afternoon the Second Regiment of United States Dragoons was brought over from Youngstown, but scarcely any pursuit was attempted as the American army was described as much exhausted from being under arms for eleven hours. No one seemed to know positively which way the British had retreated. Colonel Scott with some of the riflemen seems to have advanced a few miles along the Queenston road, but was peremptorily recalled by General Lewis who feared an ambush. Meanwhile Vincent's column had retired in almost perfect order, leaving scarcely a straggler behind and marched with such speed that the rear guard arrived that night at DeCew's house, where a small magazine of provisions had been formed a few days before in anticipation of a reverse.

About four o'clock in the afternoon a dragoon reached Fort Erie with information of the loss of Fort George, and Lieut.-Colonel Bishop immediately began his retreat with the regular troops and field guns stationed there, leaving Major John Warren with a few men of the Third Lincoln Regiment of militia to occupy the works and engage the attention of the enemy on the opposite bank. Soon after his departure, Warren opened fire on Black Rock from all the batteries, and continued the cannonade all night. At daybreak the destruction of the stores and fortifications began. The barracks and public buildings were burnt, the magazines blown up, the guns burst or otherwise rendered unserviceable along the whole line from Point Abino to Chippawa. When this had been thoroughly accomplished, Warren disbanded his men, and an American force crossed from Black Rock and took possession of the dismantled works. A quantity of stores which had been abandoned at Queenston, was destroyed on the same day, by Lieut.-Colonel Thomas Clark, at the head of a small party of the Third Lincoln Regiment, who had returned from Beaver Dams for the purpose.

Scarcely had this been done, when a strong brigade of American troops advanced from Fort George and occupied that village.

During these operations General Vincent had lost the whole of his garrison ordnance and a considerable quantity of spare arms and military stores. His regular force had been diminished by 350 officers and men, nearly all of whom were killed or wounded, but he was joined during the night of the 27th by two strong companies of the 8th Regiment which had advanced that day as far as the mouth of the Twelve Mile Creek on their way to Fort George. The loss of the regulars in the battle was officially stated at fifty-two killed, forty-four wounded, and 262 missing, nearly all of those reported missing being either killed or left wounded on the field. The small detachment of Lincoln militia engaged is stated to have lost five officers and eighty men, killed or wounded, but no official return seems to have been preserved. The names only of Captain Martin McClellan and Privates Charles Wright and William Cameron, who were killed, have been recorded. Two Mohawk Indians, Joseph Claus and Tsigotea, were also among the slain. General Boyd stated that his men found 107 dead and 175 wounded of the British troops upon the field. The losses of some of the detachments actually engaged were truly appalling. The five companies of the 8th Regiment lost, Lieut. Drummie killed, Major Cotton, Lieuts. Nicholson, McMahon, and Lloyd, and Ensign Nicholson wounded, and 196 non-commissioned officers and privates killed, wounded, or missing out of 310 of all ranks who went into action. The Glengarry Light Infantry lost Captain Liddle and Ensign McLean killed, Captain Roxborough and Lieut. Kerr wounded, and 73 non-commissioned officers and men out of an aggregate of 108. The grenadier company of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment lost Capt. Winter, Lieut. Stewart, and fourteen others out of forty.

The total loss of the American army was officially stated at 150, of whom thirty-nine were killed. The only officer killed was Lieut. Henry Hobart, a grandson of General Dearborn. Covered as their landing was by the fire of so many cannon, it is, perhaps, remarkable that their loss was so great. As a proof, however, of the severity of the short struggle on the plain. Dr. Mann, the American army surgeon, who was present, remarked that he found 27 dead and 87 severely wounded on the field when he landed and that nearly 400 of both armies lay stretched on a plot of ground not more than 200 yards in length and fifteen in breadth.

On the 28th, the whole of the militia except Merritt's troop of Provincial Cavalry, Runchey's company of negroes, and about sixty picked men of other corps who were determined to follow the fortunes of the army, were disbanded, and Vincent continued his retreat to Grimsby and finally to Burlington Heights where he arrived on the 2nd June with eleven field guns and 1800 seasoned soldiers, who, in spite of their recent reverse were in high spirits and eager to meet the enemy again on more equal terms. The brilliant result of the action at Stoney Creek three days later amply atoned for a defeat by which they had lost no credit.

The Americans were justly disappointed by the incompleteness of their success. For nearly two days they appear to have absolutely lost all track of their enemy. "When we marched for Queenston on the 28th," wrote an officer in the United States army whose letter was published at the time in the _Baltimore Whig_, "we found the British far advanced on their retreat by the back road toward the lower part of the Province. They collected their force very actively. Our friends hereabouts are greatly relieved by our visit. They had been terribly persecuted by the Scotch myrmidons of England. Their present joy is equal to their past misery. This is a charming country but its uncertain destiny together with the vexations the farmers endured by being dragged out in the militia left the fields in a great degree uncultivated. The British Indians are not of much use to them. They run as soon as the battle grows hot. I saw but one Indian and one Negro with the Glengarry uniform on, dead on the field. Their Eighth fought very resolutely and suffered severely."

Many American historians have condemned General Dearborn for not having accomplished more with the means at his disposal but they have made little or no allowance for the physical weakness which actually rendered him unfit to command at all. General Armstrong, who, as Secretary of War, was eager to justify his own conduct, declared that "if instead of concentrating his whole force, naval and military, on the water side of the enemy's defences he had divided the attack and crossed the Niagara below Lewiston and advanced on Fort George by the Queenston road, the investment of that place would have been complete and a retreat of the garrison rendered impracticable." This, however, was actually the movement which Dearborn had planned but failed to execute in time. Ingersol, a member of Congress and a leader of the war party, bitterly observed that "the British General effected his retreat (probably without Dearborn knowing it for he stayed on shipboard) to the mountain passes where he employed his troops in attacking, defeating, and capturing ours during all the rest of that year of discomfitures."

THE END.

N. B.--For the engraving, "The Taking of Fort George," we
are indebted to the kindness and courtesy of the Hon. P. A.
Porter, Niagara Falls. It is from the portfolio published in
Philadelphia, 1817, and is particularly interesting to us as
giving the appearance of the churches St. Mark's and St.
Andrew's before the town was burnt down, as also the
Lighthouse situated nearly where the Queen's Royal Hotel
stands now.

End of Project Gutenberg's Battle of Fort George, by Ernest Cruikshank

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