Cm. XI.] MOVEMENTS ON THE LAKES. 229 The singular and repeated ill success of the general in cominand on the northern frontier, led to much complaint and censure not lightly express view of dislodging this party, Wilkin- Wilkinson disposed his troops so as nearly to encircle the mill, and brought up a howitzer and one twelve-pounder to batter the walls; but after firing a considerable time, it was found little effect was produced. The enemy kept up a galling fire from the loop holes cut in the mill, during the whole time our troops lay before the place, and directed a great portion of it on the two pieces of artillery: the British fire was returned with great coolness and deliberate aim. The enemy made two sallies, and charged the left, commanded by General Smith, but were repulsed with considerable loss. Towards evening, a British regiment arrived, and made a charge on part of a brigade commanded by General Bissel; but they were so warmly received, that they instantly fell back, leaving on the field a number of their dead and wounded. Finding it not possible, with the artillery he had, to penetrate the stone walls of the mill, Wilkinson abandoned the attempt in which he had engaged, and having lost about a hundred and forty in killed and wounded, he retired in good order, the enemy making no effort to molest him. Wilkinson was suspended from the command, and the troops were placed under the charge of GeLeral Izard. Subsequently, Wilkinson was | brought before a court martial, and after a trial, was acquitted. Shortly after the affair at La Colle Mill, the greater part of the British force was collected at St. John's and Isle Aux Noix, for the purpose of securing the entrance of their squadron into Lake Champlain, on the breaking up of the ice. This movement was effected early in May. During the autumn and winter preceding, Commodore M'Donough had labored with great industry to provide a naval force on Lake Champlain, equal to that of the British. The flotilla was lying in the Otter River, at Vergennes; and it was the object of the British to destroy it, before it should make its appearance on the lake. Apprized of this, M'Donough caused a battery to be erected at the mouth of the river. On the 12th of May, the British fleet entered the lake, and were repulsed in an attack upon this battery by water. They were also unsuccessful in attempting to gain the rear of the battery by land, being driven off by a detachment of Vermont militia. Thus repulsed, they abandoned their object, and moved down the lake. 1814. Active preparations were also under way on Lake Ontario. At Kingston, the British built a ship of larger size than ordinary, which led Chauncey to do the same, so as to preserve, if possible, a nearly equal force with that of the enemy. Various attempts were made to destroy these vessels, but without success, and both the British and Americans were kept constantly on the alert. Oswego, which was a dépôt for naval stores, was defended by a fort mounting only five guns, and was garrisoned by about three hundred men under Colonel Mitchell. The British commander determined to attack it, hoping to seize upon the valuable stores, rigging, guns, etc., which Chauncey was collecting there for his new ship, the Superior. On the 5th of May, the British commenced a bombardment of Oswego, while fifteen hundred men,* under General Drummond, attempted to effect a landing. Failing in this, the next day they renewed the attempt with better success. Colonel Mitchell now abandoned the fort, and joining his corps to the marines and seamen, engaged the enemy's front and flanks, and did great execution. Finding further resistance useless, he fell back, formed his troops, and took up his march to the Falls of Oswego, thirteen miles distant, destroying the bridges in his rear. Hither the naval stores had already been removed, and for all the trouble and loss which they had sustained, the British obtained nothing more than the cannon of the fort, a few barrels of provisions and some whiskey. These were purchased with a loss of two hundred and thirty-five men, in killed and in killed and wounded. The loss of the Americans was sixty-nine in killed, wounded, and missing; among the first, a promising officer, Lieutenant Blaney. On the morning of the 7th, the enemy evacuated the place. 1814. Not long after, Major Appling and Captain Woolsey were appointed to convey the naval stores from Oswego to Sackett's Harbor. On the 28th of May, when off Sandy Creek, sixteen miles southwest of Sackett's Harbor, perceiving themselves covered by the British boats, they entered the creek. Here they landed, and formed an ambuscade. The British followed, were completely surprised, and surrendered after an action of twenty minutes. Not one of Major Appling's party was wounded, and the barges soon after arrived at Sackett's Harbor in safety. Chauncey having completed the Superior, which was capable of mounting sixty-four guns, was again master of the lake. He accordingly sailed out, and several times presented himself before Kingston; but Sir James Yeo, the British commander, did not deem it prudent to hazard an engagement until his new ship of a hundred and twelve twelve guns should be completed. In the west, the enemy had been able to hold possession of Fort Mackinaw, which was looked upon as an important post for their purposes. Ser. eral efforts were made to recover Mackinaw, but none of them were crowned with success. At the close of February, Captain Holmes was dis * British authorities state, that the number was only patched from Detroit, by Colonel But about three hundred. ler, with about a hundred and eighty Ca. XI.] THE BATTLE OF CHIPPEWA. men, against a party of the British who had stationed themselves on the river Thames, some two days march distant. On the 3d of March, when about fifteen miles distant, he received intelligence that three hundred of the enemy were advancing to attack him. Finding himself not in a situation to give battle, from the fatigue which his men had already encountered and his ignorance of the number of the enemy's party, Captain Holmes fell back a few miles, and chose a position, in which he was confident of being able to maintain himself, until he could obtain the necessary information. For this purpose, he dispatched a small body of rangers, which soon returned, pursued by the enemy, but without being able to learn his force. The British, perceiving the strength of Captain Holmes's position, resorted to stratagem for the purpose of drawing him from it. They feigned an attack, and then retreated, taking care not to show more than sixty or seventy men. Captain Holmes pursued, but with caution; and after proceeding about five miles, discovered their main body drawn up to receive him. Immediately returning to his former position, he disposed his troops in the most judicious manner, and firmly waited for the enemy; having in front a deep ravine, and the approaches on the other sides being somewhat difficult and also protected by logs hastily thrown together. The attack was commenced at the same moment on every point, with savage yells and the sound of bugles; and was gallantly sustained by the Americans. After an hour's hard fighting, the Brit 1814. 231 ish retreated, with a loss of sixty-five killed and wounded. Captain Holmes whose loss was only six in killed and wounded, was promoted to the rank of major for this spirited affair. General Brown, who had not, during the spring, been able to undertake any expedition against Canada, was, nevertheless, not idle. Aided by Scott and Ripley, he had diligently occupied himself in drilling and disciplining his troops for the work which was before them. The first step was to regain possession of Fort Erie, and in June, Brown marched his army, now about three thousand five hundred men, to Buffalo. On the 3d of July, Fort Erie was invested, and the garrison, amounting to one hundred and seventy men, surrendered without firing a shot. Immediate possession was taken, and the prisoners were sent into the interior of New York. General Brown promptly determined to advance and attack General Riall, who was entrenched at Chippewa, not far from Erie, but above the Falls; and having made arrangements for the defence of the fort and protecting the rear of the army, he ordered General Scott, on the morning of the 4th of July, to advance with his brigade and Towson's artillery. These were followed in the course of the day, by General Ripley, and the field and park artillery under Hindman, together with General Porter's volunteers. The British commander at Chippewa, General Riall, might with no great difficulty, have checked the advance of the Americans by removing the bridge over the Chippewa River, but he omitted this precaution. His force, it is stated by British writers, was inferior to that of the Americans, consisting of some fifteen hundred regulars, and about a thousand militia and Indians.* Within two miles of the enemy Brown halted, and drew up in regular order; and on the following day Riall left his intrenchments and accepted the challenge to battle. At five in the morning of the 6th of July, the action commenced, the Canadian militia and Indian allies attacking the American volunteers, the redoubted marksmen of Kentucky, who stood their ground so bravely, and dealt such deadly shots into the ranks of the enemy, that not till some of the regulars came up were they driven back. The first battalion, under Major Leavenworth, took a position on the right; and the second was led to its station by Colonel Campbell, who, on being wounded shortly afterwards, was succeeded by Major M'Neill. Major Jessup, who commanded the third battalion, which was formed on the left, resting in a wood, was ordered to turn the right flank of the British, then steadily advancing upon the American line. The cool intrepidity of the troops was worthy of the highest praise, and showed what advances in discipline had been made under such officers as Scott, Ripley, and others. * The main body of the British now According to American contemporary authorities, the British force was not short of three thousand in all; and as only Scott's brigade was actually engaged in battle, it was fought on the American side by less than thirteen hundred men. The reader will note the frequent discrepancies between the accounts of the numbers engaged in contest; it is, in fact, almost im possible to attain exactitude or these points. 1814. advanced to the attack in column, the Americans receiving them in line, thus reversing, as Alison says, the usual order of the British and French in the peninsular campaigns. The result was the same as what had there so often occurred; the head of the British column was crushed by the discharges of the American line, which stood bravely, and fired with great precision; and though they succeeded in deploying with much steadiness, the loss sustained in doing so was so serious, that General Riall was compelled hastily to retreat, with the loss of one hundred and fifty men killed, three hundred and twenty wounded, and fortyfour missing. M'Neill's battalion, with its left wing thrown forward, took the enemy in front and flank at the same time, and did prodigious execution; and the victory was ascribed in no small part to a daring movement,-a bayonet charge,-by Major Jessup, in the midst of a destructive fire from the British troops. The Americans lost three hundred and twenty-eight in killed, wounded, and missing. The result of this battle was especially gratifying to the American people, for it served to prove, that nothing but discipline was wanting on land, to give our soldiers the same capability, which had been so gallantly maintained by our sailors, of meeting and conquer ing the veteran troops of England. The battle was fought manfully on both sides, and, as above shown, was unusu ally sanguinary. General Brown, having resolved to dislodge the British, sent forward General Ripley, two days afterwards, to Cn XI.] THE BATTLE OF LUNDY'S LANE. open a road, and build a bridge over the Chippewa River for the passage of the troops. Riall endeavored to prevent this, but unsuccessfully, and soon after, withdrew from his entrenchments and fell back upon Queenstown. The next day he retired to Twenty-mile Creek, and General Brown immediately occupied Queenstown. On the 12th of July, General Swift, of the New York volunteers, set out with a party of a hundred and twenty men, to reconnoitre the works at Fort George. Having surprised an outpost, he captured a corporal and his guard. One of these, after having received quarter, treacherously shot Swift in the breast. This excellent officer survived his wound only a short time, but refused to leave his post until an attacking party of the enemy was beaten off. General Brown was now prepared to advance upon Forts Niagara and George, and purposed doing so; but unfortunately, Commodore Chauncey's illness had prevented his co-operating with the land force as was expected, and hence the British held the mastery of the lakes, and their vessels only were to be seen at Fort George, when the Americans arrived in its vicinity. The gallant Brown, disappointed thus of the aid he had hoped for from the fleet, withdrew from his advanced position on the Niagara, and determined to follow and attack the British army * Ingersoll (vol. ii., p. 93) censures Chauncey's course, and thinks that he ought to have rendered effectual service to Brown in his plans and purposes. See, also, Armstrong's "Notices of the War of 1812," vol. ii., pp. 237-44. VOL. III.-30 233 1814. at Burlington Heights. For this pur pose, on the 24th of July, he fell back to the junction of the Chippewa with the Niagara. General Riall, who had been reinforced by the ef forts of General Drummond, took post at Queenstown immediately after it was abandoned by the Americans; thence he sent a detachment across the Niagara, for the purpose of threatening the town of Schlosser, where Brown had collected his supplies, and where were also his sick and wounded. Riall at the same time dispatched an advance party on the Niagara road. General Brown, with a view of drawing off the enemy from his attempt on the village across the river, resolved to put his force in motion towards Queenstown. General Scott, accordingly, with the first brigade, Towson's artillery, and all the dragoons and mounted men, over a thousand in number, set out directly on the road leading to Queenstown, with orders to report if the enemy appeared, and to call for assistance if necessary. * It was four o'clock in the afternoon of the 25th of July, that Scott led his brigade from the and after procamp, ceeding along the Niagara about two miles and a half from the Chippewa, and within a short distance of the cataracts, discovered General Riall 1814. on an eminence near Lundy's Lane, a position of great strength, where he had planted a battery of nine pieces of artillery, two of which were brass * Armstrong's critical remarks on General Brown's movements and plans are worth consulting: "Notices of the War of 1812," vol. ii., pp. 113-18. |