The little village of York, numbering somewhat more than one thousand inhabitants at the time, was then chiefly at the bottom of the bay near a marshy flat, through which the Don, coming down from the beautiful fertile valleys, flowed sluggishly into Lake Ontario, and, because of the softness of the earth there, it was often called "Muddy Little York." It gradually grew to the westward, and, while deserting the Don, it wooed the Humber, once a famous salmon stream, that flows into a broad bay two or three miles west of Toronto. In that direction stood the remains of old Fort Toronto, erected by the French. On the shore eastward of it, between the present new barracks and the city, were two batteries, the most easterly one being in the form of a crescent. A little farther east, on the borders of a deep ravine and small stream, was a picketed block-house, some intrenchments with cannon, and a garrison of about eight hundred men under Major-General Sheaffe. On "Gibraltar Point," the extreme western arm of the peninsula, that embraced the harbour with its protecting arm, was a small blockhouse; another stood on the high east bank of the Don, just beyond a bridge at the eastern termination of King and Queen streets. These defences had been strangely neglected. Some of the cannon were without trunnions, others, destined for the war-vessel then on the stocks, were in frozen mud and half covered with snow. Fortunately for the garrison, the Duke of Gloucester was then in port, undergoing some repairs, and her guns furnished some armament for the batteries. These, however, only amounted to a few six-pounders. The whole country around, excepting a few spots on the lake shore, was covered with a dense forest.
On the day when the expedition sailed from Sacketts Harbour General Pike issued minute instructions concerning the manner of landing and attack.
It is expected [he said] that every corps will be mindful of the honour of the American, and the disgraces which have recently tarnished our arms, and endeavour, by a cool and determined discharge of their duty, to support the one and wipe off the other. [He continued:] The unoffending citizens of Canada are many of them our own countrymen, and the poor Canadians have been forced into the war. Their property, therefore, must be held sacred; and any soldier who shall so far neglect the honour of his profession as to be guilty of plundering the inhabitants, shall, if convicted, be punished with death. But the commanding general assures the troops that, should they capture a large quantity of public stores, he will use his best endeavours to procure them a reward from his government.
"The Garrison at York."
A drawing on bark by Mrs. Simcoe.
It was intended to land at a clearing near old Fort Toronto. An easterly wind, blowing with violence, drove the small boats in which the troops left the fleet full half a mile farther westward, and beyond an effectual covering by the guns of the navy. Major Forsyth and his riflemen, in two bateaux led the van, and when within rifle shot of the shore they were assailed by a deadly volley of bullets by a company of Glengary Fencibles and a party of Indians under Major Givens, who were concealed in the woods that fringe the shore. "Rest on your oars! Prime!" said Forsyth in a low tone. Pike, standing on the deck of the Madison, saw this halting, and impatiently exclaimed, with an expletive: "I cannot stay here any longer! Come," he said, addressing his staff, "jump into the boat." He was instantly obeyed, and very soon they and their gallant commander were in the midst of a fight, for Forsyth's men had opened fire, and the enemy at the shore were returning it briskly. The vanguard soon landed, and were immediately followed, in support, by Major King and a battalion of infantry. Pike and the main body soon followed, and the whole column, consisting of the Sixth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Twenty-First Regiments of Infantry, and detachments of light and heavy artillery, with Major Forsyth's riflemen and Lieutenant McClure's volunteers as flankers, pressed forward into the woods.
The British skirmishes meanwhile had been re-enforced by two companies of the Eighth or King's Regiment of Regulars, two hundred strong, a company of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, a large body of militia, and some Indians. They took position in the woods, and were soon encountered by the advancing Americans, whose artillery it was difficult to move. Perceiving this, the British, led by General Sheaffe in person, attacked the American flank with a six-pounder and howitzer. A very sharp conflict ensued, and both parties suffered much. Captain McNeil, of the King's Regiment, was killed. The British were overpowered, and fell back, when General Pike, at the head of the American column, ordered his bugler to sound, and at the same time dashed gallantly forward. That bugle blast thrilled like electric fire along the nerves of the Indians. They gave one horrid yell, then fled like frightened deer to cover, deep into the forest. That bugle blast was heard in the fleet, in the face of the wind and high above the voices of the gale, and evoked long and loud responsive cheers. At the same time Chauncey was sending to the shore, under the direction of Commander Elliott, something more effective than huzzas for he was hurling deadly grape-shot upon the foe, which added to the consternation of the savages, and gave fleetness to their feet. They also hastened the retreat of Sheaffe's white troops to their defences in the direction of the village, while the drum and fife of the pursuers were briskly playing Yankee Doodle.
The Americans now pressed forward rapidly along the lake shore in platoons by sections. They were not allowed to load their muskets, and were compelled to rely upon the bayonet. Because of many ravines and little streams the artillery was moved with difficulty, for the enemy had destroyed the bridges. By great exertions a field-piece and a howitzer, under Lieutenant Fanning, of the Third Artillery, was moved steadily with the column. As that column emerged from thick woods, flanked by McClure's volunteers, divided equally as light troops under Colonel Ripley, it was confronted by twenty-four pounders on the Western Battery. Upon this battery the guns of some of Chauncey's vessels which had beat up against the wind in range of the enemy's works were pouring heavy shot. Captain Walworth was ordered to storm it with his grenadiers, of the Sixteenth. They immediately trailed their arms, quickened their pace, and were about to charge, when the wooden magazine of the battery, that had been carelessly left open, blew up, killing some of the men, and seriously damaging the defences. The dismayed enemy spiked their cannon, and fled to the next, or Half-Moon, Battery. Walworth pressed forward; when that, too, was abandoned and he found nothing within but spiked cannon. Sheaffe and his little army, deserted by the Indians, fled to the garrison near the Governor's house, and there opened a fire of round and grape-shot upon the Americans. Pike ordered his troops to halt, and lie flat upon the grass, while Major Eustis, with his artillery-battery moved to the front, and soon silenced the great guns of the enemy.
The firing from the garrison ceased, and the Americans expected every moment to see a white flag displayed from the block-house in token of surrender. Lieutenant Riddle, whose corps had brought up the prisoners taken in the woods, was sent forward with a small party to reconnoitre. General Pike, who had just assisted with his own hands in removing a wounded soldier to a comfortable place, was sitting upon a stump conversing with a huge British sergeant who had been taken prisoner, his staff standing around him. At that moment was felt a sudden tremor of the ground, followed by a tremendous explosion near the British garrison. The enemy, despairing of holding the place, had blown up their powder magazine, situated upon the edge of the water at the mouth of a ravine, near where the buildings of the Great Western Railway now stand. The effect was terrible. Fragments of timber and huge stone of which the magazine walls were built were scattered in every direction over a space of several hundred yards. When the smoke floated away the scene was appalling. Fifty-two Americans lay dead, and one hundred and eighty others were wounded. So badly had the affair been managed that forty of the British also lost their lives by the explosion. General Pike, two of his aids, and the British sergeant were mortally hurt, while Riddle and his party were unhurt, the missiles passing entirely over them. The terrified Americans scattered in dismay, but they were soon rallied by Brigade-Major Hunt and Lieutenant-Colonel Mitchell. The column was re-formed and the general command was assumed by the gallant Pennsylvanian colonel, Cromwell Pearce, of the Sixteenth, the senior officer. After giving three cheers, the troops pressed forward toward the village, and were met by the civil authorities and militia officers with propositions of a capitulation in response to a peremptory demand for surrender made by Colonel Pearce. An arrangement was concluded for an absolute surrender, when, taking advantage of the confusion that succeeded the explosion, and the time intentionally consumed in the capitulation, General Sheaffe and a large portion of his regulars, after destroying the vessels on the stocks, and some storehouses and their contents, stole across the Don, and fled along Dundas Street toward Kingston. When several miles from York they met a portion of the King's Regiment on their way to Fort George. These turned back, covered Sheaffe's retreat, and all reached Kingston in safety. Sheaffe (who was the military successor of Brock) was severely censured for the loss of York. He was soon afterward superseded in command in Upper Canada by Major-General De Rottenburg and retired to Montreal to take command of the troops there.