In the middle of April, a reinforcement of 100 men, conveying a quantity of much-needed supplies and stores, under Colonel McDouall, was sent from Toronto to Mackinaw, which was reached after a most difficult journey on 18th May. A great number of Indians then flocked into the post, which prompted McDouall to fit out a small expedition of 150 men with 500 Indians against a small post that had been lately established at Prairie du Chien on the Mississippi, 200 miles north-west of the present town of Chicago. Moving by water, the expedition, under Colonel M‘Kay, was completely successful, and the post was captured with two guns, and 61 prisoners, on 19th July, at a cost of only three Indians wounded.
On 26th July, a U.S. expedition from Detroit, consisting of five armed vessels and about 750 troops, arrived off Mackinaw, and landed on 4th August, when they were completely repulsed in an attack on McDouall’s position, regaining their ships with loss and confusion. No further attempt was made, but part of the expedition uselessly remained in the vicinity for some time, losing two armed vessels, which were taken, on 3rd and 6th September, by a small party of seamen and militia under Lieutenants Bulger and Worseley. No further fighting took place in this quarter, and Mackinaw remained in the hands of the British till the end of the war.
On the 30th March, General Wilkinson at the head of 4000 U.S. troops advanced from Plattsburgh, crossed Lake Champlain on the ice, and attacked a small British force, in a stone mill at La Colle, under Major Handcock. Wilkinson was repulsed with some loss, and returned to Plattsburgh.
The position of the British troops on the Niagara frontier early in the year was very discouraging. The hardships they had undergone during the operations in December had caused great sickness, so that the abandonment of Fort Niagara was at one time seriously entertained.
“The region between Chippewa and Erie had been so completely laid waste that it remained almost uninhabited. In addition to his troops, Drummond had several thousand non-combatants to feed, and, in the destitute condition of the country, this seemed an almost hopeless task. Most of the western Indians that had survived General Proctor’s defeat, as well as the whole Six Nations from the Grand River, three thousand persons in all, of whom two-thirds were helpless women and children, had sought refuge near the British cantonments at Burlington. Their depredations so harassed and alarmed many of the inhabitants in the vicinity, that they abandoned their farms, and took shelter in the soldiers’ quarters. The homeless fugitives from the Niagara were also dependent upon the over-taxed commissariat. Thus, while his armed force numbered less than two thousand, between seven and eight thousand rations were issued daily.... The Indians daily consumed twice as much flour as the whole of the troops. In the garrison of Fort Erie alone, not much exceeding one hundred persons, no less than sixty-nine cases of ague were reported in a single week.”[62]
A great number of Indians on the United States’ side were forced to take up arms. Marauding parties from Detroit made frequent incursions, carrying off loyal inhabitants, and destroying Delaware and Point aux Pins. By the end of January, Black Rock was re-occupied by United States’ troops, whence they annoyed Fort Erie by artillery fire. It was in the midst of these difficulties that Drummond was obliged to send the re-inforcements under McDouall to Mackinaw, as already mentioned, and to further weaken his available forces by withdrawing a regiment from Toronto to strengthen Kingston.
By great exertions and the employment of soldiers in the shipyards, the British naval forces on Ontario had established a superiority. Drummond wished to attack Sackett’s Harbour, and destroy the enemy’s vessels there; but Sir George Prevost refused to provide the necessary troops. On the 5th May, Drummond made a successful dash from Kingston, with a force of about 1000 troops, upon Oswego. They landed on the 6th, captured the fort, destroyed all military stores that could not be carried off, and re-embarked. This successful attack delayed the United States’ operations on the Niagara frontier for several weeks, and enabled a strict blockade of Sackett’s Harbour to be established.
Early in March, Major Lisle, with a troop of the 19th Light Dragoons and a few militia, was placed in the little village of Dover, near Long Point on Lake Erie, to watch any attempt of the enemy from that side against Burlington. On the 15th May, eight hundred U.S. infantry crossed the lake in armed vessels, and landed. Major Lisle withdrew his men, and Dover was burned to the ground; after which the invading force re-embarked.
By the end of June, the United States’ troops on the Niagara frontier had gathered in great numbers, and it was evident that an invasion was imminent. Drummond had vainly urged on Sir George Prevost the necessity of reinforcing the troops on the frontier; but Sir George was convinced that the principal attack would come from Lake Champlain, and withheld the much-needed troops. From Toronto to Long Point on Lake Erie, Drummond’s force did not much exceed 4000 men. A number of important points had to be guarded, and the force under General Riall on the actual frontier was only about 2200 men, including Indians, distributed on a length of thirty-six miles, and including the garrison in Niagara. Only about seven hundred men were available for field operations. At the end of June, the strength of Major Lisle’s squadron was six officers, eleven sergeants, and one hundred and eighteen rank and file, in five different detachments, at Fort George, Queenston, Chippewa, Fort Erie, and Long Point.