General Scott

by Marcus J. Wright

The fleet weighed anchor at three o'clock in the morning, and by four the troops were all aboard. The place of embarkation was three miles east of Fort Niagara, and was made in six divisions of boats. Colonel Scott led the advance guard, at his special request, composed of his own regiment and a smaller one under Lieutenant-Colonel George McFeely. He was followed by General Moses Porter having the field train, then the brigades of Generals John Parker Boyd, William Henry Winder, and John Chandler, with the reserve under the able Colonel Alexander Macomb.

Commodore Isaac Chauncey had directed the anchorage of his schooners close to the shore in order to protect the troops in landing, and to open fire at any point on the shore where the enemy were suspected to be. Lieutenant Oliver Hazard Perry joined Commodore Chauncey on the evening of the 25th, and volunteered his services in assisting in the debarkation of the troops. This service required the greatest coolness and skill, as the wind was blowing strong and the current running rapidly; the vessels were difficult to manage, especially as they were under almost constant fire of the British guns. Perry accompanied Scott through the surf, and rendered valuable service. He it was who as Commodore Perry soon after became known to the world as the hero of Lake Erie.

The landing was effected on the British shore at nine o'clock in the morning a short distance from the village of Newark, now known as Niagara. The line of battle was promptly formed under cover of a bank ranging from six to twelve feet in height. The line of the enemy was formed at the top of the bank, consisting of about fifteen hundred men. The first attempt to ascend was unsuccessful. Scott, in attempting to scale the bank, received a severe fall, but recovering himself and rallying his forces, he advanced up the bank and was met by the enemy's bayonets. The British fell back and reformed under cover of a ravine, but a vigorous assault of less than half an hour put them in a complete rout. These forces were assisted by Porter's artillery and Boyd with a portion of his command, who had landed soon after the advance forces. The enemy were pursued to the village, where the Americans were re-enforced by the command of Colonel James Miller. It was learned from some prisoners that the British garrison was about to abandon Fort George and preparing to blow up the works. Two companies were dispatched toward the fort, but on nearing it one of the magazines exploded, and a piece of timber striking Colonel Scott, threw him from his horse, resulting in a broken collar bone. Recovering himself, he caused the gate to be forced, entered the fort, and with his own hands pulled down the British flag. The fort had suffered great damage from the artillery fire directed against it from the opposite shore. The enemy were pursued for five miles, when an order from General Morgan Lewis recalled Scott when he was in the midst of the stragglers from the British forces. The American loss was seventeen killed and forty-five wounded, and that of the British ninety killed, one hundred and sixty wounded, and over one hundred prisoners.

It will be remembered that about a year before Colonel Scott was for a short time a prisoner at Queenstown. Dining one evening with General Sheaffe and several other British officers, one of them asked him if he had ever seen the falls of Niagara. He replied, "Yes, from the American side." To this the officer replied, "You must have the glory of a successful fight before you can view the cataract in all its grandeur." Scott replied, "If it be your purpose to insult me, sir, honor should have prompted you first to return my sword." General Sheaffe rebuked the officer, and the matter ended.

This same colonel was severely wounded and captured at Fort George. Colonel Scott showed him every attention and had his wants promptly supplied. On visiting him one day the British officer said to him: "I have long owed you an apology, sir. You have overwhelmed me with kindness. You now, sir, at your leisure, can view the falls in all their glory."

Within two days, after the capture of Fort George a body of some nine hundred British troops under command of Sir George Prevost, Governor General of Canada, landed at Sackett's Harbor, New York, for the purpose of destroying the stores and a vessel there on the stocks. General Jacob Brown, who subsequently came to the command of the United States army, hastily gathered a body of militia, attacked and drove the enemy back to their vessels, and saved the stores. On June 6th, General Winder, with about eight hundred men, had been re-enforced at Stoney Creek by a small force under General Chandler. They were in pursuit of the British forces who had escaped from Fort George under command of General Vincent. He determined not to await the attack of the Americans, but to attack himself. He moved out at night and attacked the center of the American line, which he succeeded in breaking, and captured both Generals Winder and Chandler; but the enemy was at last driven back, and a council of war decided on a retreat. Coming close on this disaster, Colonel Charles G. Boerstler, with a command of six hundred men, had been sent forward to capture the Stone House, seventeen miles from Fort George. The British force was much larger than Boerstler's, and on June 24th he was completely surrounded and forced to surrender. For some three months the main body of the army had remained inactive. Colonel Scott during the happening of the occurrences just related had been engaged in foraging expeditions for the supply of the army. These expeditions also resulted in combats between the opposing forces, in all of which Scott was successful. In July, 1813, he resigned the office of adjutant general and was assigned to the command of twenty companies, or what was known as a double regiment.

Burlington Heights, on Lake Ontario, was supposed to be the depot of military stores for the British, and in September an expedition was fitted out under Scott's command to capture it; but no stores being found there, he marched toward York, now called Toronto, where a large quantity of stores were taken and the barracks and storehouses burned. General Wilkinson being now in command of the army, a campaign was inaugurated for the capture of Kingston and Montreal. Kingston was an important port, and Montreal the chief commercial town of Lower Canada.

Wilkinson was ordered to concentrate at Sackett's Harbor early in October. General Wade Hampton was ordered to join him from northern New York. Wilkinson embarked on October 2d, and Scott was left in command of Fort George with some eight hundred regulars and part of a regiment of militia under Colonel Joseph Gardner Swift. Under directions of Captain Totten, of the engineers, work was rapidly advanced in placing the fort in tenable condition; but the work was not completed before October 9th, when, to Scott's surprise, the enemy near him moved down toward Wilkinson. As authorized by his orders, Colonel Scott turned the command of the fort over to Brigadier-General McLure, of the New York militia. It was arranged that Scott was to join Wilkinson, and that vessels for his transportation should be sent up to the mouth of the Genesee River.

On his arrival there he received information that Commodore Chauncey, commanding the fleet, had been detained by the protest of General Wilkinson against his leaving him, even for a few days. Scott was then compelled to undertake the long march for Sackett's Harbor by way of Rochester, Canandaigua, and Utica. The march was accomplished under many difficulties and with much suffering, as it rained almost incessantly, and the roads were in the worst of conditions. On his arrival in advance of his troops, he was appointed to the command of a battalion under Colonel Macomb. Being in command of the advance of the army in the descent of the St. Lawrence, he was not present at the engagement at Chrysler's Farm on November 11th. At that time, in conjunction with Colonel Dennis, he was forcing a passage near Cornwall, under fire of a British force, which he routed, and captured many prisoners.

The day before the occurrence of the affair just mentioned he landed at Fort Matilda, commanding a narrow place on the river, where he gained possession of the fort. The expedition which was announced for the conquest of Canada was, on November 12th, abandoned by its leader and projector, General Wilkinson, who commanded a retreat. This occurred when Scott was fifteen miles in advance of Chrysler's Field, there being no body of British troops between him and Montreal, and the garrison at the latter place had only four hundred marines and two hundred sailors.