The Niagara River

by Archer Butler Hulbert

Old View of Fort Mississauga.

On the 12th, Fort Niagara was invested. So negligent were the officers that on the morning of the 13th one of the gates was found open, and the enemy entered without opposition to a victory which might have been almost bloodless had not the attacking force, incensed by the burning of Newark, been led to revenge; a number of the garrison were bayoneted; Lewiston was sacked, plundered, and almost entirely destroyed. A body of soldiers pressed on to the town of Niagara Falls. They were met on the heights by a small force which was not able to check them and the whole Niagara region was laid waste. The Indians were turned loose and many innocent persons perished at their hands. The advance on Buffalo and Black Rock was only temporarily checked and on the 30th these cities were captured and plundered as elsewhere described. Only four houses were left in Buffalo and one in Black Rock. Such was the revenge of the burning of Newark. These were dark days along the Niagara, when hatred never bred in honest warfare flamed up in the hearts of men, and the beginning of the story goes back to the inhuman destruction of old Newark.

Toward the latter part of March the campaign of 1814 was opened by General Wilkinson in the north, but little being accomplished he was soon superseded by General Brown. By the end of June the Northern army was gathered under Brown, once more prepared to carry the war into Canada, Buffalo being the headquarters. On the morning of the 3d of July, before daylight, General Scott crossed the river from Black Rock to invest Fort Erie. General Ripley was to have followed immediately, but he was delayed so long that it was broad day before he reached the Canadian shore. Scott pushed forward and drove the enemy's pickets into the fort. Brown, not waiting for Ripley, pushed into the forest in the rear of the fort, extending his lines so as to enclose the post. Ripley then appeared and took position in connection with Scott's command. The fort was then summoned to surrender, which summons, on account of its weak condition, was soon complied with just as reinforcements were on their way to give aid.

To stop the advance of these troops, Scott was sent with his command down the river. His march of about sixteen miles was a continual skirmish with the British, and finding the enemy in force across the Chippewa Creek he encamped for the night. Before morning of the fifth he was joined by the main body of Brown's army. On the east was the river, on the west a heavy wood, and between the armies the Chippewa and Street's creeks. The British had also received reinforcements during the night, and the battle of Chippewa was opened by each army attempting to test the other's strength.

The American pickets on Scott's left were in trouble by four o'clock and Porter was sent to relieve them; he drove back the British and Indians, but in following up his success found himself suddenly confronted by almost the whole of the enemy's army which attacked immediately. Porter maintained his ground at first but was finally compelled to give the order to retreat and this soon became a panic. General Brown noticed this and correctly supposed that the whole force of the enemy was advancing. Ripley and Scott were immediately rushed to the rescue, Ripley to fall on the rear of the British right by stealing through the wood, Scott to make a frontal attack.

The latter advanced across Street's Creek and the engagement became general along the whole line of both armies. Time and again the British line was broken but it sternly closed and continued the contest. Scott finally decided to take advantage of what he considered the unskilful manoeuvres of his foe; advancing, he ordered his forces to charge through an opening in the lines. Almost at the same instant Leavenworth executed a like movement, while Towson's battery poured canister into the British ranks. They were completely demoralised and gave back. Jesup on the American left had suffered greatly during the battle; forced to fall back, he finally found a better position, and now poured such a well-directed fire that the troops before him also retired. The British retreat did not stop until the troops were behind their entrenchments below Chippewa and the bridge across its waters destroyed. This stronghold could not be taken by the Americans; the command was given to retreat, and the same relative positions were occupied by the armies the night after the battle as the night before.

On the eighth the whole American force again moved forward. The British broke camp and retreated down the river closely pursued by Brown, who took possession of Queenston on the 10th. The enemy occupied Fort George and Fort Mississauga. Here Brown decided to await reinforcements from Chauncey and his fleet. News, however, soon came of the commander's illness and his blockade in Sacketts Harbour, whereupon Brown on the 23d fell back to the Chippewa. In case Riall did not follow, he expected to unlimber and fight wherever the enemy might be found; the night of the 24th, the army encamped on the battle-ground of the 5th, unconscious of the laurels to be won in a few short hours at far-famed Lundy's Lane.

The morning of the 25th dawned clear and beautiful. Unconscious of the proximity of the enemy, the Americans were enjoying a much-needed rest behind the village of Chippewa, when about noon news came that the British were in force at Queenston and on the heights, and that Yea's fleet had appeared in the river. Next came information that the British were landing at Lewiston and were threatening the supplies at Fort Schlosser. These reports were partly true. Pearson had advanced, unknown to the Americans, and taken position at Lundy's Lane a short distance from the Falls. Brown seemed impressed with the idea that the British were after the supplies at Schlosser and he was ignorant of the size of the force opposed to him. He at once determined that the best way to recall the British was to threaten the forts at the mouth of the river and Scott was detailed to accomplish this task. Eager for the conflict his whole command was in motion twenty minutes after having received the order. Between four and five o'clock the march of twelve hundred men began toward the forts.

Near Table Rock, Scott was informed that General Riall and his staff had just departed. In fact the Americans saw the troops move off from the house as they were advancing toward it, and the informant also stated that the enemy were in force behind a small strip of woods in front; but so convinced was the American leader that Fort Schlosser was the objective point of the British movement that he would not credit the story. Believing that but a small force was in front, he dashed into the woods to dispel them. Imagine his surprise when he found himself faced at Lundy's Lane by Riall's whole force! Scott's position was indeed perilous. To advance seemed destruction, to stand still would be equally fatal, while to retreat would probably throw the whole army into confusion. With that resource which always distinguished him, he quickly decided to engage the enemy, and if possible deceive them into believing that the whole American army was present while he sent back for reinforcements.

General Brown had been misinformed as to the enemy's movements. No soldiers had crossed to Lewiston, but the whole force was with Riall preparing for the present move. Scott found himself opposed to fully eighteen hundred men. The English lines extended over the hill in a crescent form with the horns extending forward. In its centre and on the brow of the hill, the strongest point of the position, was placed a battery of seven guns. Into the very centre of this crescent he had unconsciously led his army.