The battle of Lundy’s Lane was the best contested action of the war of 1812. On the afternoon of the 24th of July, 1814, General Brown received a notice that the British general had thrown a thousand men across the lake to Lewistown, nine miles below Chippewa. To divert them from what he supposed to be their object, the American general ordered General Winfield Scott, with his brigade of thirteen hundred men, to advance and threaten the forts at the mouth of the Niagara. Scott, advancing more than two miles, suddenly found himself in front of the whole British army, drawn up in Lundy’s Lane. Undaunted, he formed his line, and the struggle began. For two hours, the fiercest and the most desperate valor was displayed on both sides. Every attempt of the British to turn the flanks of the gallant band opposed to them failed. Their own left was turned and cut off, but their centre stood firm. Night came on, and the struggle was continued solely by the flashes of the guns. The American line had suffered much, but the remnants of the troops stood their ground with indomitable resolution. About ten o’clock the ammunition of the troops began to fail. But General Brown at length came up with strong reinforcements, and relieved the exhausted men. A more equal fight now ensued. Brown determined to carry the battery on the height at the head of the lane, that being the key of the enemy’s position. Riding up to Colonel Miller, he asked him if he would storm the height.
SCOTT PILOTING MILLER.
“I will try, sir!” was the heroic reply. Piloted by Scott, through the darkness to the foot of the ascent, Miller seized the guns almost instantaneously. Meanwhile General Ripley engaged the enemy, and was supported by the gallant Scott, who had two horses shot under him, and was wounded in the side, but kept the field until a wound in the shoulder brought him to the ground. General Brown was severely wounded, and, with Scott, taken from the field. The command now devolved on General Ripley. But the battle was nearly over. The British made one more charge, and were repulsed in disorder, and then the firing ceased. Ripley retired to the camp at Chippewa. In this bloody and well fought battle, the Americans lost eight hundred and sixty men, killed and wounded. The loss of the enemy was about one thousand men. One of their generals, Riall, was captured.
BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN.
BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN.
The British were very anxious to obtain the command of Lake Champlain, and the posts in the vicinity. The Americans had fitted out a small squadron on the lake, and placed it under the command of Commodore Macdonough. In 1814, a powerful British army advanced against Plattsburgh, and a British squadron, commanded by Captain Downie, sailed to meet the American squadron, then lying in Plattsburgh bay. Early on the morning of the 11th of September, the fleets met, and the battle commenced.
The Confiance, the flag-ship of the enemy, engaged the Saratoga, and the contest was maintained for about two hours, when the Confiance struck her colors. The chief vessel of the enemy being captured, the brig surrendered in a few minutes; two sloops had been captured some time before; three of the gallies were sunk, and the others escaped. The killed on board the American squadron amounted to fifty-two, the wounded to fifty-eight. Of the enemy, eighty-four were killed, including Captain Downie, the commander of the squadron, one hundred and ten wounded, and eight hundred and fifty-six remained prisoners, a number exceeding the whole amount of the Americans engaged.