The result was chiefly decided by Drummond’s errors. Had he followed Ripley closely, and had he attacked instantly on overtaking the retreating army at Fort Erie or elsewhere, he would have had the chances in his favor. Had he crossed the river and moved against Buffalo, he would have obliged Brown to order the instant evacuation of Fort Erie, and would have recovered all the British positions without the loss of a man. Drummond took neither course. He waited two days at Chippawa before he moved up the river within two miles of Fort Erie. About August 1 his reinforcements arrived,—DeWatteville’s regiment from Kingston, and the Forty-first from Fort George,—replacing his losses, and giving him three thousand one hundred and fifty rank-and-file;[103] but he seemed still undecided what course to adopt. The battles of Chippawa and Lundy’s Lane had given the British army respect for American troops, and Drummond hesitated to assault the unfinished works at Fort Erie, although he was fully one half stronger in men than Gaines and Ripley, who had barely two thousand rank-and-file after obtaining such reinforcements as were at hand.
Strength of Scott’s Brigade, Fort Erie, July 31, 1814.
| Present for Duty. | Aggregate. | ||
| Non-com. Officers, rank-and-file. | Officers. | Present and absent. | |
| Ninth Regiment | 139 | 8 | 569 |
| Eleventh Regiment | 293 | 11 | 624 |
| Twenty-second Regiment | 218 | 10 | 408 |
| Twenty-fifth Regiment | 255 | 7 | 676 |
| General Staff | 4 | 4 | |
| Total | 905 | 40 | 2281 |
| Strength of Ripley’s Brigade. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| First Regiment | 141 | 6 | 220 |
| Twenty-first Regiment | 441 | 20 | 849 |
| Twenty-third Regiment | 292 | 12 | 713 |
| General Staff | 4 | 4 | |
| Total | 874 | 42 | 1786 |
| Monthly return of troops under Major-General Brown, Fort Erie, July31, 1814. | |||
| Bombardiers, etc. | 58 | 2 | 69 |
| Light Dragoons | 47 | 1 | 64 |
| Artillery Corps | 241 | 12 | 364 |
| First Brigade | 905 | 40 | 2281 |
| Second Brigade | 874 | 42 | 1786 |
| Total of Brown’s army | 2125 | 97 | 4564 |
Drummond began operations by ordering a detachment of six hundred men to cross the river and destroy the magazines at Black Rock and Buffalo.[104] During the night of August 3 Colonel Tucker of the Forty-first, with four hundred and sixty rank-and-file of his own and other regiments,[105] landed two or three miles below Black Rock, and advanced against it. They were met at the crossing of a creek by two hundred and forty men of Morgan’s Rifles, then garrisoning Black Rock, with some volunteers. The effect of the rifles was so deadly that the British troops refused to face them, and Tucker returned after losing twenty-five men. This repulse, as creditable in its way to the American army as the battles at Chippawa and Lundy’s Lane, caused much annoyance to Drummond, who issued an order, August 5, expressing “the indignation excited by discovering that the failure of an expedition, the success of which... would have compelled the enemy’s forces to surrender or... encounter certain defeat, was attributable to the misbehavior of the troops employed.”[106] The only success achieved by British detachments was the cutting out of two American schooners which covered the approach to Fort Erie, near the shore.
Drummond having decided not to assault the lines of Fort Erie until he had made an impression on the works, next sent for guns of heavy calibre.[107] Ten days were passed in opening trenches and constructing batteries. Gaines and Ripley employed the time in completing their defences. Of these, the so-called Fort Erie was the smallest part, and made only the salient angle toward Drummond’s approaches. As the British had constructed the fort, it was a small, unfinished work, about one hundred and fifty yards from the Lake-shore, open in the rear, and mounting three guns. The American engineers completed its rear bastions, and constructed an earthwork seven feet high, with a ditch, to the shore, where a small stone-work completed the defence on that side, and brought the lines to the water’s edge. The stone-work was called the Douglass battery, after the lieutenant of engineers who built it. Fort Erie, Battery Douglass, and their connecting breastwork secured the camp on the right. A similar breastwork, nearly at right angles with the first, was extended three hundred and fifty yards westward parallel with the Lake-shore, then turning slightly ran three hundred and fifty yards farther till it neared the Lake-shore, where it was finished on Snake Hill by a projecting battery called Towson’s. Traverses were constructed, and a strongly intrenched camp, about seven hundred yards by two hundred and fifty, was thus formed, open on its rear to the Lake.
Hindman had general charge of the artillery. Battery Douglass mounted one gun; another was mounted on the neighboring line; Fort Erie contained six,[108] under Captain Williams; Biddle’s and Fanning’s (Ritchie’s) four guns were placed on the long line in the front; and Towson had six field-pieces at the extreme left.[109] Scott’s brigade, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Aspinwall, was posted on the right; Porter’s volunteers and the First Rifles occupied the centre; and Ripley with the Twenty-first and Twenty-third regiments defended the left.
Drummond opened with six guns, August 13, and prepared for assault the following day. His arrangements were somewhat complicated. He divided the attacking force into three columns, retaining another division in reserve. The strongest column, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Fischer of DeWatteville’s regiment, was composed of portions of four regular regiments, and numbered about thirteen hundred men; these were to assault Towson and Ripley on Snake Hill. The centre column, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Drummond of the One-Hundred-and-fourth, numbered only one hundred and ninety rank-and-file, including a party of seamen and marines;[110] these were to attack Fort Erie. The third column, under Colonel Scott of the One-Hundred-and-third regiment, numbered six hundred and fifty rank-and-file; these were to assault the breastworks between Fort Erie and Battery Douglass.[111] According to these numbers, Drummond meant to assault with twenty-one hundred and forty rank-and-file, or about twenty-four hundred men all told. His reserve numbered one thousand men.[112] Some further number must have been detailed in camp duty.
Drummond’s instructions, dated August 14, to Colonel Fischer were minute.[113] Fischer’s column was to march immediately, in order to pass through the woods before dark, and halt for the night opposite the point of attack, with every precaution against discovery:—
“You are to advance to the attack precisely at two o’clock. You are to enter the enemy’s position betwixt Snake Hill and the Lake, which is represented to be sufficiently open; but this is not to prevent your making your arrangements for assaulting any other part of the position by means of the short ladders and hay-bags with which you will be furnished. In order to insure success, the Lieutenant-General most strongly recommends that the flints be taken out of the firelocks, with the exception of a reserve of select and steady men who may be permitted to retain their flints, if you think it necessary or advisable, not exceeding one third of your force. This reserve, with the detachment of artillery, should take post on Snake Hill.”
A demonstration was to be made a few minutes before two o’clock against the American pickets opposite the centre of the line.