On that fateful 27th of April, 1813, about seven o'clock in the morning, when this fleet had reached York, the intention was to land the troops at old Fort Rouillé, whence the advance to the assault of Fort York would have been only about a mile, along the lake front, over the level ground of present Garrison Common. But a strong east wind drove the boats "a considerable distance" leeward, to some wooded point in the direction of the Humber. Exactly how far this was does not appear; but there is evidence that it was not more than some fraction of a mile—probably not as far west of Fort Rouillé as the latter was west of Fort York. General Dearborn says, "about a mile and a half" from Fort York, which would be about half a mile west of Fort Rouillé; and the place called Grenadier Point has been named in this connection. Doubtless the whole of the troops were not landed at precisely the same spot. General Dearborn remained with the fleet, which was to bombard York after landing the troops under the command of General Pike. The former's official report to Hon. John Armstrong, Secretary of War, dated Headquarters, York, Upper Canada, Apr. 28th, 1813, includes this passage (Brannan, p. 149):
I had been induced to confide the immediate command of the troops in action to General Pike, from a conviction that he fully expected it, and would be much mortified at being deprived of the honor, which he highly appreciated.
As rendered in Niles' Register, IV. p. 179, it is to the same effect, but somewhat differently worded:
To the general I had been induced to confide the immediate attack, from a knowledge that it was his wish and that he would have been mortified had it not been given to him.
We will hear from Pike himself once more before he falls. It is before any landing has been effected. Forsyth's boats are nearing the shore; they are fired upon from the woods, but have not yet answered a shot. Pike is standing on the deck of the flagship, surrounded by his staff, straining his eager eyes impatiently at the boats, which he sees have been driven beyond the intended point of debarkation. "'By God! I can't stay here any longer!' and addressing himself to his staff—'Come, jump into the boat!' which we immediately did, the commodore having reserved a boat specially for him and his suite; the little coxswain was ordered immediately to steer for the middle of the fray, and the balls whistled gloriously around; probably their number was owing to seeing so many officers in one boat; but we laughed at their clumsy efforts as we pressed forward with well-pulled oars."[M-20]
The first troops which effected a landing were Forsyth's[M-21] Rifles, conveyed in two boats. Their debarkation was promptly resisted by a choice body of light troops from Fort York, consisting of a company of Glengary Fencibles, with some Indians, under Major Givens. From an advantageous position in the woods which had been taken up, the enemy opened a galling fire as our troops left the boats. Concerning this opening engagement I cite Whiting, pp. 300-303:
The riflemen were formed on the bank as promptly as possible, when the boats returned to the fleet for other troops. In the meantime, this gallant little band, assisted by some few other troops that were thrown on shore in other boats, sustained the brunt of the combat. The numbers in this initial struggle were about equal, and it became a fair and close fight, to be turned either way as re-enforcements should happen to arrive. The British light troops were choice men, and commanded by a brave officer.
Forsyth's men were undisciplined, but had seen some desultory service on the Ogdensburg frontier, and had unbounded confidence in their leader, who was rather an extraordinary man, and regarded as a most promising partisan officer. He had peculiar notions as to the manner of training men. The common rules of discipline were looked upon by him with the utmost contempt. All he seemed to require of those under him was, that they should be good marksmen, and ready to follow him....
At the time of this expedition, Major Forsyth was a fat man, probably weighing some 200 pounds. The uniform of his men was green, and, at the time he landed, he wore a broad-skirted coat of that color, which was unbuttoned and thrown back, displaying a white vest spread over his ample chest, that afforded a mark for an enemy equal to the chalked circle of a common infantry target. He had on his head a broad-brimmed black hat. Soon after the landing, the armorer of his regiment, a favorite of both himself and his men, was killed. The skill of this man was such as enabled him to give the rifle its most deadly character; and the efficiency of the regiment was consequently supposed, both by officers and men, to depend much upon him. When he fell, every man felt as if a deed had been perpetrated by the enemy that demanded revenge; and the whole detachment, from Major Forsyth down to the most indifferent marksman, entered into the combat with a fierce spirit of retaliation that, no doubt, contributed much to the obstinacy of the stand they made, and the unusual loss sustained by the enemy immediately opposed to them.
Taking to the woods in which the British light troops were posted, the riflemen, after their loose manner, placed themselves behind trees, and thus carried on the contest with their more concentrated, better ordered, and, therefore, more exposed opponents. It is said that Major Forsyth continued, throughout the action, to move to and fro, armed only with a light sword, immediately in the rear of his men, pointing out with an earnest solemnity that partook both of sorrow and anger, to one rifleman and another, some one of the enemy, and exclaiming that he was the man who had killed the favorite armorer. This suggestion was almost sure to be fatal to the enemy thus specially branded with the guilt of having taken off the best man of the corps. The British light troops were nearly all left on the ground they first occupied, being too strong to retreat while the landing was only partially made, and too much exposed to stand before such expertness of aim, rendered so fierce and unyielding by one of the chance shots of an opening fight.