Thus far almost unbroken disaster had followed the American land forces in the Lake regions, much of which must be ascribed to the incompetence of commanding officers. Another fatal mistake was made a few weeks after the battle of Queenston Heights when, on November 28th, another invasion of Canada was attempted. Three thousand men under General Smyth were to comprise this expedition. At three o’clock in the morning, twenty-one boats left the American shore near Black Rock, but met with such a warm reception at the hands of the British that a number of the boats were compelled to fall back, and in the general excitement only a part of the force landed. Captain King, in command of one division, captured two batteries after a desperate struggle, spiked the guns, and with the assistance of Commander Angus and his men would have won a complete victory had not the latter, for some reason that has never been explained, retreated in his boats. As a consequence Captain King and a number of his men were captured, and thus a second attempt at a Canadian invasion fizzled out in complete disaster. This was practically the end of the campaign of the year 1812. There had been several minor naval events besides those which I have described and a few small operations on land, but all of them were unimportant.
The following year opened more auspiciously for the Americans, who were the first to begin active hostilities. On April 25th, Commodore Chauncey set sail with a squadron of fourteen vessels and seventeen hundred troops to attack York (Toronto). At this time York was poorly defended notwithstanding the fact that a 24-gun ship was almost completed in the harbour and an immense quantity of supplies were stored there. The Americans began disembarking early in the morning of the 27th, under the command of Brigadier-General Pike, while the armed schooners beat up to the fort and opened on it with their long guns. A strong wind forced the small boats, in which the troops were being carried, so close to the works that the landing instead of being made at a safe distance as had been planned was in the face of a galling fire. Despite this, General Pike assembled his men on the beach and began an immediate assault, the Canadians and English being driven from their works with heavy loss. In the moment of defeat, the garrison fired their powder magazine, and in the terrific explosion that followed, fifty-two of the victors were killed and one hundred and eighty wounded. Altogether the Americans lost seventy killed in both the land and naval forces, and the British one hundred and eighty killed and wounded and two hundred and ninety prisoners. The 24-gun ship was burned, and another vessel, the Gloucester, was added to the American fleet.
This victory was of tremendous importance to the Americans, and it was determined to at once follow it up by an attack on Fort George, where the British General Vincent was stationed with a force of over two thousand men, fifteen hundred of whom were regulars. On May 26th, Commodore Chauncey reconnoitred the enemy’s position and afterward held their interest while the Conquest and Tompkins destroyed a battery some distance down the lake. A part of General Vincent’s regulars attempted to prevent a landing at this point, but they were so terribly cut up by the short-range fire of the ships that they could offer but little opposition. So great was their loss that the British made little further effort to hold their position, blew up their fort, and retreated. Of the Americans, eighteen were killed and forty-seven wounded. The British loss was fifty-two killed, nearly three hundred wounded, and five hundred taken prisoners.
This last blow lost the Niagara frontier to the British. General Vincent at once gave orders that Forts Chippewa and Erie and all public property as far down as Niagara Falls should be destroyed. The magazine at Fort Erie was fired, and a little later, Lieutenant-Colonel Preston, in command of the Americans at Black Rock, took possession of what remained of the stronghold, thus giving Perry an opportunity to get out of the Niagara River five of the vessels which were to play such an important part in the naval history of Lake Erie. Sacketts Harbour was now in much the same condition that York (Toronto) had been, and was even more poorly defended. The British planned to regain a part of their lost prestige by its capture, and on May 27th, Commodore Sir James Lucas Yeo sailed with a large fleet and a strong land force under Sir George Prevost to make the attack. On the 29th, eight hundred of the British regulars landed, but despite the astonishing inadequacy of the American garrison they were beaten back with a loss of fifty-two killed and two hundred and eleven wounded, while the Americans lost but twenty-three killed and one hundred and fourteen wounded. The British squadron returned to Kingston, and for several weeks thereafter co-operated with the army forces and made several unimportant naval captures while Chauncey awaited the completion of the new ship Pike. During July, General Dearborn was recalled from his command at Fort George because of the capture by the British of Lieutenant-Colonel Boerstler and seven hundred men, and during this same month Black Rock was captured by the enemy and recaptured by the Americans, but it was not until the 30th that an important blow was struck by either side. On this day the Americans again descended upon York, destroyed eleven transports, burned the barracks, and captured a considerable quantity of supplies and ammunition.
Both the Americans and the British were now looking for a decisive naval battle between Yeo and Chauncey upon Lake Ontario. The squadrons were quite evenly matched with the advantage, if any, in favour of the Americans. Both commanders watched for a favourable opportunity to attack, but not until the 11th of August was a gun fired. After an almost harmless long-distance cannonade between the fleets, the Julia and Growler, two of Chauncey’s vessels, became separated from the main squadron and were cut off and captured by Yeo. For a month, the two fleets were chasing or evading each other, and it was not until the 11th of September that they approached close enough for another engagement, which was only slight. These “chase-and-run tactics” continued until the 28th, when the squadrons came together again in York Bay. In the action that followed, Yeo’s ships were badly damaged and ran for protection into Burlington Bay. This victory, although not resulting in the capture of the British fleet, completely established Chauncey’s supremacy and for the remainder of the season Yeo remained at Kingston.
For some months past, Captain Oliver Hazard Perry, acting under Commodore Chauncey, had been devoting his energies to the creating of a fleet on Lake Erie, and with such energy that on the memorable morning of September 10th, when from the masthead of the Lawrence at Put-in-Bay was seen the approaching squadron of Captain Robert Barclay, he had under his command nine vessels carrying a total of fifty-four guns and five hundred and thirty-two men. These vessels were the Lawrence, Niagara, Caledonia, Ariel, Scorpion, Somers, Porcupine, Tigress, and the Trippe. Barclay’s fleet was composed of the Detroit, Queen Charlotte, Lady Prevost, Hunter, Chippeway, and Little Belt, carrying a total of sixty-three guns and four hundred and forty men. It is interesting to note, according to Theodore Roosevelt’s Naval War of 1812, that notwithstanding the superior number of their guns the British ships were capable of throwing a broadside of only 459 pounds as against 936 pounds from the American squadron, a fact which shows the overwhelming superiority of Perry’s fleet and incidentally robs his victory of some of its glory.
In my examination of the many and various accounts of the naval battle of Lake Erie, I have found that the most complete and authentic report is that of Mr. Roosevelt, who goes with minute detail into the preparation, comparative strength, and handling of the two squadrons, and inasmuch as this battle of Erie is one of the most thrilling episodes of our Inland Seas, I have secured the very kind permission of Mr. Roosevelt to use a part of his description of the actual contest. Soon after daylight, on September 10th, Perry got under way and advanced toward the enemy in battle form.
A View of the Historic Battle-ground on Mackinac Island.
“As, amid light and rather baffling winds, the American squadron approached the enemy” [says Roosevelt], “Perry’s straggling line formed an angle of about fifteen degrees with the more compact one of his foes. At 11.45, the Detroit opened the action by a shot from her long 24, which fell short; at 11.50, she fired a second which went crashing through the Lawrence, and was replied to by the Scorpion’s long 32. At 11.55, the Lawrence, having shifted her port bow-chaser, opened with both the long 12’s, and at meridian began with her carronades, but the shot from the latter all fell short. At the same time, the action became general on both sides, though the rearmost American vessels were almost beyond the range of their own guns, and quite out of range of the guns of their antagonists. Meanwhile, the Lawrence was already suffering considerably as she bore down on the enemy. It was twenty minutes before she succeeded in getting within good carronade range, and during that time the action at the head of the line was between the long guns of the Chippeway and Detroit, throwing 123 pounds, and those of the Scorpion, Ariel, and Lawrence, throwing 104 pounds. As the enemy’s fire was directed almost exclusively at the Lawrence she suffered a great deal. The Caledonia, Niagara, and Somers were meanwhile engaging, at long range, the Hunter and Queen Charlotte, ... while from a distance the three other American gun-vessels engaged the Prevost and Little Belt. By 12.20 the Lawrence had worked down to close quarters, and at 12.30 the action was going on with great fury between her and her antagonists, within canister range. The raw and inexperienced American crews committed the same fault the British so often fell into on the ocean and overloaded their carronades. In consequence, that of the Scorpion upset down the hatchway in the middle of the action, and the sides of the Detroit were dotted with marks from shot that did not penetrate. One of the Ariel’s long 12’s also burst. Barclay fought the Detroit exceedingly well, her guns being most excellently aimed, though they actually had to be discharged by flashing pistols at the touchholes, so deficient was the ship’s equipment. Meanwhile, the Caledonia came down too, but the Niagara was wretchedly handled, Elliott keeping at a distance which prevented the use either of his carronades or of those of the Queen Charlotte, his antagonist; the latter, however, suffered greatly from the long guns of the opposing schooners, and lost her gallant commander, Captain Finnis, and first lieutenant, Mr. Stokes, who were killed early in the action; her next in command, Provincial Lieutenant Irvine, perceiving that he could do no good, passed the Hunter and joined in the attack on the Lawrence at close quarters. The Niagara, the most efficient and best-manned of the American vessels, was thus almost kept out of the action by her captain’s misconduct. At the end of the line the fight went on at long range between the Somers, Tigress, Porcupine, and Trippe on one side, and Little Belt and Lady Prevost on the other; the Lady Prevost making a very noble fight, although her 12-pound carronades rendered her almost helpless against the long guns of the Americans. She was greatly cut up, her commander, Lieutenant Buchan, was dangerously, and her acting first lieutenant, Mr. Roulette, severely wounded, and she began falling gradually to leeward.
“The fighting at the head of the line was fierce and bloody to an extraordinary degree. The Scorpion, Ariel, Lawrence, and Caledonia, all of them handled with the most determined courage, were opposed to the Chippeway, Detroit, Queen Charlotte, and Hunter, which were fought to the full as bravely. At such close quarters the two sides engaged on about equal terms, the Americans being superior in weight of metal, and inferior in number of men. But the Lawrence had received such damage in working down as to make the odds against Perry. On each side almost the whole fire was directed at the opposing large vessel or vessels; in consequence the Queen Charlotte was almost disabled, and the Detroit was frightfully shattered, especially by the raking fire of the gunboats, her first lieutenant, Mr. Garland, being mortally wounded, and Captain Barclay so seriously injured that he was obliged to quit the deck, leaving his ship in command of Lieutenant George Inglis. But on board the Lawrence matters had gone even worse, the combined fire of her adversaries having made the grimmest carnage on her decks. Of the 103 men who were fit for duty when the action began, 83, or over four fifths, were killed or wounded. The vessel was shallow, and the wardroom, used as a cockpit, to which the wounded were taken, was mostly above water, and the shot came through it continually, killing and wounding many men under the hands of the surgeon.
“The first lieutenant, Yarnall, was three times wounded, but kept to the deck through all; the only other lieutenant on board, Brooks, of the marines, was mortally wounded. Every brace and bowline was shot away, and the brig almost completely dismantled; her hull was shattered to pieces, many shot going completely through it, and the guns on the engaged side were by degrees all dismounted. Perry kept up the fight with splendid courage. As the crew fell one by one, the commodore called down through the skylight for one of the surgeon’s assistants; and this call was repeated and obeyed till none were left; then he asked, ‘Can any of the wounded pull a rope?’ and three or four of them crawled up on deck to lend a feeble hand in placing the last guns. Perry himself fired the last effective heavy gun, assisted only by the purser and chaplain. A man who did not possess his indomitable spirit would have then struck. Instead, however, Perry determined to win by new methods, and remodelled the line accordingly, Mr. Turner, in the Caledonia, when ordered to close, had put his helm up, run down on the opposing line, and engaged at very short range, though the brig was absolutely without quarters. The Niagara had thus become next in line astern of the Lawrence, and the sloop Trippe, having passed the three schooners ahead of her, was next ahead. The Niagara now, having a breeze, steered ahead for the head of Barclay’s line, passing over a quarter of a mile to windward of the Lawrence, on her port beam. She was almost uninjured, having so far taken very little part in the combat, and to her Perry shifted his flag. Leaping into a rowboat, with his brother and four seamen, he rowed to the fresh brig, where he arrived at 2.30, and at once sent Elliott astern to hurry up the three schooners. The Trippe was now very near the Caledonia. The Lawrence, having but fourteen sound men left, struck her colors, but could not be taken possession of before the action recommenced. She drifted astern, the Caledonia passing between her and her foes. At 2.45, the schooners having closed up. Perry, in his fresh vessel, bore up to break Barclay’s line.
“The British ships had fought themselves to a standstill. The Lady Prevost was crippled and sagged to leeward, though ahead of the others. The Detroit and Queen Charlotte were so disabled that they could not successfully oppose fresh antagonists. There could thus be but little resistance to Perry, as the Niagara stood down, and broke the British line, firing her port guns into the Chippeway, Little Belt, and Lady Prevost, and the starboard ones into the Detroit, Queen Charlotte, and Hunter, raking on both sides. Too disabled to tack, the Detroit and Charlotte tried to wear, the latter running up to leeward of the former; and, both vessels having every brace and almost every stay shot away, they fell foul. The Niagara luffed athwart their bows, within half pistol-shot, keeping up a terrific discharge of great guns and musketry, while on the other side the British vessels were raked by the Caledonia and the schooners so closely that some of their grape-shot, passing over the foe, rattled through Perry’s spars. Nothing further could be done, and Barclay’s flag was struck at 3 P.M. after three and a quarter hours’ most gallant fighting.”