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

by E. A. Cruikshank

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.