It was Sir James who brought Sir George Prevost to Sackett’s Harbor and carried him back again. Before Chauncey got back to Sackett’s Harbor, Sir James was able to add a new ship, the Wolfe, a twenty-four-gun sloop-of-war, to his squadron, and this made his force afloat superior to that of the Americans. Following the failure at Sackett’s Harbor he went cruising, captured two American supply-schooners, and landed at Sodus Point, where he got six hundred barrels of flour. This was in June. During that month the Americans captured a British supply-schooner, and thereafter nothing was done until near the end of July.
On July 21st the new American twenty-eight-gun ship Pike was ready to sail, and a schooner, the Sylph, had also been added to the squadron at Sackett’s Harbor. With his whole force, Commodore Chauncey sailed to the Niagara River, took on Scott and some regulars, and made another assault on Toronto, where they destroyed eleven transports, burned the barracks and carried off five cannon, a lot of flour, and some ammunition. Returning to Niagara, Lieutenant Elliott and a hundred men were sent to join Perry. This was done on August 3d. On August 7, 1813, while the Americans lay at anchor at Niagara, Yeo’s squadron appeared. The American squadron at this time numbered thirteen vessels, of which three were built for men-of-war and had bulwarks to protect the men at the guns from the grape-shot and musketry of the enemy. The rest were schooners without bulwarks—merchant-schooners that had had guns mounted on them. The Americans had 965 men on board, and their guns threw 1,390 pounds of metal at a broadside, of which long guns threw 800 pounds.
Yeo had only six vessels, but these were all men-of-war and had high, thick bulwarks. They were manned by not less than seven hundred and seventy men, and their guns threw 1,374 pounds of metal, all but one hundred and eighty being from short guns. Obviously at long range in fine weather the Americans would have the advantage of force, while at short range all but three of the Yankee vessels would be wellnigh useless; and in rough weather the Yankee schooners would be wholly useless.
On the 7th the squadrons jockeyed for place. At 1 o’clock next morning a squall overturned the two American schooners Hamilton and Scourge because their big guns made them top-heavy. This reduced the American weight of metal thrown to one hundred and forty-four pounds less than the British. For two days more the two commanders jockeyed for place, and it is obvious that if either had had the spirit of Perry when he said “To windward or to leeward they shall fight to-day,” the fight would have taken place. All the next day still (August 10, 1813) the two squadrons filled and backed, but at 7 o’clock at night they got together, the British to windward in a single column, the Yankees in the lee in two columns, the big ships being in the lee line. Chauncey hoped that Yeo would try to close on the schooners, and that they could then slip through between the big ones and beat around to rake the enemy when engaged with the regular American men-of-war.
At 11 o’clock the American schooners opened fire at long range. Fifteen minutes later the British knight replied and “the action became general and harmless.”
At 11.30 all the American schooners but the Growler and Julia squared away and passed to the lee of the big Americans. The two tacked up ahead of the British squadron. But the British did not come down. On the contrary, Yeo tacked after the two schooners and got them in spite of a brilliant dash that they made to run through his line. When too late, Chauncey tried to beat up to help his two schooners, but he couldn’t beat fast enough to overtake Sir James Yeo. The next day the two squadrons were in sight of each other, the British knight being to windward, but he did not go hunting Yankee war-ships down wind nor did Chauncey crowd sail to beat up. That night the wind grew so heavy that two of the schooners had run to shelter and Chauncey with his seven remaining vessels went to Sackett’s Harbor, reprovisioned his vessels and came back again. The British had had the best of it, but Chauncey was by no means crushed.
From August 13th until September 10th the two bold commodores chased the wind, each very much surprised and disgusted that the other kept out of the way “though so much superior in force.”
On the day after Perry’s victory the two squadrons did have a brush at long range in a light breeze. It was a good day for the Yankee schooners, and Sir James, by his own confession, sailed away after a few shots had been fired. The Americans lost nothing. The British lost four killed and seven wounded. Then on the 28th there was another fight. It was on a very good day for a battle. The Americans made the attack and came down handsomely on the enemy, who received them warmly. The three leading American vessels were the new ship Pike and the Tompkins and Asp, the last being in tow of the Pike. The Madison and the Sylph had each a little schooner in tow and so were kept so far astern that they never got into the battle. The three leaders fired away bravely, the Pike taking the Wolfe, Yeo’s flag-ship, as her special target. The Yankee Tompkins lost her foremast but the Pike shot away the maintop-mast and mainyard of the Wolfe and killed so many men that Sir James squared away and made all sail to escape from the three Yankee ships, the remainder of the American fleet never getting within range. The Americans lost five in killed and wounded. The British did not publish the reports of their losses.
Having chased the British into Burlington Bay, Commodore Chauncey missed the one great opportunity of his lifetime. Burlington Bay was undefended. Had he sailed boldly in after the demoralized British, there was every hope of a triumph as complete as that of Perry on Lake Erie. But Chauncey did not sail in. He said he was afraid it would come on to blow and he would be caught on a lee shore. That he was afraid of something is undisputed. Chauncey, however, did now have command of the lake and a few days later retook the Julia and the Growler that Yeo had captured at the head of the lake, and took also the British schooners Mary, Drummond, and Lady Gore. These five were transporting troops along the lake-shore. Yeo got his warships into Kingston and Chauncey kept them there.
On the whole, the British had undisputed control of Lake Ontario during forty-eight days. There was a sort of a contest for the control lasting sixty-nine days, and the Americans held undisputed control for one hundred and seven days of the open season of 1813. The British captured the two schooners Growler and Julia. The Americans retook these, captured a ten-gun brig at Toronto (the Gloucester), and burned a twenty-four-gun ship almost completed. They also destroyed army and navy supplies and other public property far in excess of the damage the British inflicted upon the Americans.