This action is sometimes called the battle of Williamsburg, sometimes the battle of Chrysler's Field. Both sides claimed the victory, and there has been much dispute both as to the number of men engaged and as to the losses. The British probably had a thousand men, including Indians; the Americans seventeen hundred. General Wilkinson reported a loss of one hundred and two killed, and two hundred and thirty-seven wounded—one man in five. The British loss was reported at one hundred and eighty-eight killed, wounded, or missing—nearly one in five. Among the American officers who distinguished themselves on this field was Lieutenant William J. Worth, who afterward rose to eminence as a major-general.
Disregarding the military maxim which forbids an invading army to leave an enemy in its rear, Wilkinson next day passed down the Long Rapids with his whole force, and near Cornwall was joined by General Brown, who had been sent forward to attack the post at the foot of the rapids. This had been done by a fight at Hoophole Creek, where about eight hundred of Brown's men, under the immediate command of Colonel Scott, had defeated an equal number of the enemy and taken many prisoners.
But here a courier arrived at Wilkinson's headquarters, bringing a letter from General Hampton, in which he announced that he would not join the expedition as ordered, or attempt to invade Canada any farther.
The truth was, Hampton had moved down the Chateaugua with about four thousand men, intending to join Wilkinson. He was opposed by a force of about one thousand, including Indians, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel De Salaberry. The active opposition began at a point where the road passed through a forest. Here the enemy had felled trees across the line of march, constructed abattis, and posted light troops and Indians in the woods. But Hampton sent a regiment to turn the enemy's flank and occupy the open country in the rear, while strong working parties opened a new road by a detour, enabling his whole force to follow, and thus the first obstruction was skilfully passed.
But eight or ten miles in advance a more formidable obstacle was encountered. Here was another forest, in which the enemy had constructed not only abattis but timber breastworks, and planted artillery. The guides assured Hampton that the river, along whose bank his route lay, was fordable opposite the enemy's flank. He thereupon formed an elaborate plan for sending a force to ford the stream above, march to a point below the enemy, ford again, and fall on his flank and rear; while the main body was to attack in front when the firing was heard. The detachment was commanded by Colonel Purdy, who afterward said it "was intrusted to the guidance of men, each of whom repeatedly assured him [Hampton] that they were not acquainted with the country, and were not competent to direct such an expedition; while at the same time he had a man who had a perfect knowledge of the country, whom he promised to send, but which he neglected to do."
The detachment, which left camp in the evening of October 25th, crossed the stream, and soon got lost in a hemlock swamp, where it wandered about in the darkness, sometimes doubling on its tracks, so that the two ends of the column would come in contact with each other and wonder whether they had met friend or foe. As might have been expected, it completely failed to find the lower ford.
In the afternoon of the 26th, though nothing had been heard from the detachment, the main force moved against the works in front. De Salaberry boldly threw forward a force to meet it, resting his left on the river and his right on a thick wood, in the edge of which he posted a body of Indians. The cracking of rifles began at once, and sharp and persistent fighting ensued. Slowly and steadily the Americans, under the immediate command of General George Izard, pressed back this advance upon the main body of the enemy. But at this point the detachment across the river encountered a detachment of British troops. Purdy's advance guard was driven back, and then fire was opened upon him by a concealed body of militia, which threw him into confusion and caused a disorderly retreat. At the same time, Hampton was deceived by a ruse of De Salaberry's, who had placed buglers at several points in the woods, with orders to sound an advance. Thoroughly disconcerted, and perhaps frightened by this failure of his plan, and the supposed onset of a great force of the enemy, Hampton at once withdrew his troops and abandoned the attack, falling back soon afterward to Chateaugua Four Corners. He had lost about forty men killed or wounded; the enemy about twenty-five.
On learning of the defection of Hampton, Wilkinson called a council of war, the result of which was a determination to ascend Salmon River and go into winter quarters. Thus ended ingloriously one more of the ill-advised and ill-managed attempts to conquer Lower Canada.
The cost of these campaigns had been enormous to both belligerents. The Americans had spent about two and a half million dollars in building vessels on lakes Erie, Ontario, and Champlain; which was a large sum for that day, and yet was small in comparison with the incidental cost of maintaining considerable bodies of troops in idleness through a whole summer while waiting for the fleets to be built. It was estimated that the conveyance of each cannon to Sackett's Harbor had cost a thousand dollars. The flour for Harrison's army, by the time it reached the troops, had cost a hundred dollars a barrel. There were long distances through the wilderness of Western New York and Northern Ohio where supplies could only be carried on packhorses, half a barrel to a horse, and other horses had to follow with forage for those that were carrying the supplies. Most of the horses were used up by a single trip. Of four thousand used in carrying provisions to Harrison, but eight hundred were alive the next spring. In Canada the hardships of war rested heavily upon the people as well as the soldiers. All their salt had come from the United States, and what little there was on that side of the border when communication with this country ceased was held at a dollar a quart. At Kingston flour was thirty dollars a barrel. So scarce were provisions of all kinds, that the Government appointed commissioners to determine how much food each family should be permitted to consume. In the British camps, lean cattle were killed to prevent their starving to death, and then the meat was eaten by the soldiers. In later wars we have often succeeded in shooting more men, but seldom in producing more misery.
The withdrawal of troops from the Niagara frontier to take part in Wilkinson's expedition left the defence of that line almost entirely to militia, and the term for which the militia had been called out expired on the 9th of December. The next day General George McClure, who had been left in command at Fort George, found himself at the head of but sixty effective men, while the British General Drummond had brought up to the peninsula four hundred troops and seventy Indians—released by the failure of Wilkinson's expedition—and was preparing to attack him. McClure thereupon determined to evacuate the fort, as the only alternative from capture or destruction, and remove his men and stores across the river to Fort Niagara. He also determined to burn the village of Newark, that the enemy might find no shelter. The laudable part of this plan was but imperfectly carried out; he failed to destroy the barracks, and left unharmed tents for fifteen hundred men, several pieces of artillery, and a large quantity of ammunition, all of which fell into the hands of Drummond's men. But the inexcusable part—the burning of a village in midwinter, inhabited by noncombatants who had been guilty of no special offence—was only too faithfully executed. The inhabitants were given twelve hours in which to remove their goods, and then the torch was applied, and not a house was left standing.