Title

Chapter 11

Identifier

http://www.nflibrary.ca/nfplindex/show.asp?b=1&ref=oo&id=298167

page

126-131

Bibliographic Citation

1812; the war and its moral : a Canadian chronicle / William Foster Coffin.

10167813

1812; the war and its moral : a Canadian chronicle / William Foster Coffin.

Type

Text

extracted text

CHRONICLE OF THE WAR.

LANDING EFFECTED-THE BRITISH RETIRE.

The forces of the Americans were ample, and in every way
adequate to the attempt. Generals Dearborn and Lewis, Boyd,
Windsor, and Chandler were at the head of at least 6000 men.
The American squadron, under Commodore Chauncey, consisted
of eleven vessels of war, with a fighting broadside of 52 guns—
many of them long thirty-two and eighteen-pounders. His crews
mustered 900 choice seamen. This immense superiority was wellknown to the British general ; and it is only to be lamented that
a sentiment of military punctilio, exacerbated, possibly, by the
reproaches recently flung upon Sheaffe, should have induced him to
dare a useless contest against overwhelming odds, and to have
sacrificed 445 good soldiers, whose services at Stoney Creek would
have been invaluable. Vincent, however, had resolved not to give
way without a fight, and disposed his men accordingly. He placed
an advanced detachment of the Glengarry and Newfoundland regiments, numbering about 250 rank and file, with 40 Indians, under
Norton, in a ravine and copse at the outlet of One-mile Creek, a
small rivulet situated about one mile west of Newark ; in their
rear, within supporting distance, was the left column, under Colonel
Myer, 470 strong, protected by three light field pieces ; while his
right column, 600 bayonets, under Colonel Harvey, was drawn up
between Newark and Fort George, except about 50 men of the
49th foot and 80 of the militia, who occupied the fort itself.
At day-light on the 27th May, the American flotilla — ships of
war and swarms of boats —were discovered bearing down before a
light breeze, from the eastward upon Missisagua Point. At the
same time the batteries of Fort Niagara opened upon Fort George
and Newark ; but a heavy fog settling down suddenly, the cannonade ceased for a while, with little harm done, except to the town.
During the lull, three heavy schooners swept in, so as, to enfilade
the British twenty-four and nine-pounder guns en barbette. About

down in three lines, towards One-mile Creek. As the boats approached the shore, the British advance sprang to the bank, and
tore them with so severe a fire, that the men cowered down for
safety. Then the Oneida, and the Madison, and the Lady of the Lake,
opened with their heavy cannon, and like Graham's artillery, at
St. Sebastian, playing over the heads of the stormers, threw their
shot over their own boats into the exposed ranks of the British, and
with admirable precision. The fate of the brave McNeil, at York,
was re-enacted, and the storm-struck line staggered back on its
supports.

126

8 a.m. the fog lifted and discovered the American flotilla bearing

127

So soon as the boats touched ground, the Americans plunged
into the water, and rushed to the shore. Their officers rallied and
formed them with bravery and coolness ; but the brief time occupied in formation, enabled the left column, under Myer, incorporating the remnant of the advance, to reach the top of the bank ;
and the Americans were repeatedly driven back and thrust down
at the point of the bayonet ; but the brigades of Winder and
Chandler had reinforced the first. The twenty-four-pounder gun
at Missisagua had been silenced ; the nine-pounder, served by
militia, bravely fought on, until almost every gunner had been
killed or wounded ; and the deadly fire from the ships enfiladed
Myer's column. The Colonel himself was down, desperately hurt.
Every mounted officer, but one, was hit, and the exception lost his
horse. Of a column of 470 strong, 204 regular and 85 militia
were hors de combat. Fortune kindly spared the man who was
most wanted. Harvey took Myer's place, and falling back on his
own right column, which he had left for the moment in charge of
Plenderleath, drew up his whole force in order of battle in the
plain. This was to the west of the town and fort, on the line of
retreat.
So soon, however, as the enemy had landed on the top of the
bank and formed, a cloud of light troops and riflemen had been

128

DEAVER DAM—MILITARY POSITION—DE HAREN.

CHRONICLE OF THE WAR.

thrown upon the road to Burlington Heights-, to intercept this
movement. The American army had divided into two columns, and,
strongly supported by artillery, followed in the same direction. Di
delay further, simply to indulge the dogged rage of resistance,
were to tempt destruction. Vincent, yielding in his` extremity
ordered his outlying posts at Fort Erie and Chippewa to join him .
and directing Fort George to be blown up, gathered up the shattered remnants of his forces, and fell back upon the strong position
of the "Beaver Dam," unmolested, leaving behind him, on the
stricken field, 445 of his best and bravest men.
About noon, on that day, the Americans took quiet possession of
Fort George. The 50 men of the 49th, who had been left to
destroy the magazines, being entirely cut off, fell into the hands of
the enemy. The American loss amounted to about 150. On
reaching the Beaver Dam, Vincent was joined by Colonel Bishopp,
from Fort Erie, and Major Ormsby, from Chippewa.; and thus
reinforced, mustered 1,600 rank and file. Had he destroyed Fort
George and retired to this position at early dawn, he would, in the
words of Mr. Secretary Armstrong, " have adopted the policy of
Sheaffe, have preferred the preservation of his troops to that of his
post, and carrying off the kernel would have left the enemy the
shell."
Vincent had retired to the Beaver Dam, covering his retreat on
Burlington Heights. A beaver dam, or beaver meadow, is a common feature of the wilderness. The sagacious labourer has long
since receded before the footsteps of the settler, and the range of
the trapper ; but his handy-work remains in evidence of his industry and skill. It is the practice of the beaver, when nature does
not offer a pond or lake fit for the safe structure of his dwelling,
to form an artificial overflow. He selects a gorge between hills,
or uplands- on each side of a running stream, and with his teeth,
and paws, and some slight aid from his tail, he cuts down trees, and
)

129

floats them to the site selected ; with his paws he moves stones,
and earth, and branches ; he intertwines, and overlays, and plasters—and thus he creates a dam, with a rare certainty of instinctive
calculation as to the depth and area of water to be obtained, and of
the strength and substance required for its retention. Many of
these beaver dams have been found twelve feet in thickness at the
base, as many feet in height, and extending across valleys of considerable width. It is the work of conjoint labour, organized and
applied with the economy of human intelligence. The construction
of the dam has, most probably, flooded a large tract of land in the
rear, and has destroyed vegetation ; but on the disappearance
of the engineer, the dam has fallen into decay ; a new vegetation of rank grass has sprung up on the subsidence of water, and
in the rear of the deserted beaver dam has grown up a beaver
meadow. This is an attraction to the early settler—it affords to
his cow, pasture in summer, and hay in winter ; and his first shanty
is placed in its vicinity.
The military position of the Beaver Dam was about twelve
miles from Niagara, on the road to the Heights ; and one Decau
had built a stone house hard by, which became at once a depot for
military stores, and a point d'appui. The dam itself, an embankment, might then have been looked to, as a breastwork in case of
attack, but little trace remains of it now. It was then chiefly
valued as commanding the cross-road to Ten-mile Creek, now St.
Catherines, where Major de Haren lay, with 220 men.

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XII.

Backettillarboir. 'Expectations and preparations. iHr.11ieltLake
„,.erdson, C.D. -740s Career and Record. Departure of Squadron. Sights 'Sackett's
Harbour and withdraws. Capture of American Officer of Dragoons. The Expedition
'ritires--Preparations for ifinding. ireparations for resistance. Getietal coti Blown,
Colonel Baccus. Landing effected. Americans defeated—fire the stores and ships on
the stocks. The British ordered to retreat. Withdrawal of the Expedition.

tienelal VinCent te rally areinid him his iYuftiliii AetaChhiSuretreitt upon 'ThirlingtOn Ileighti, we
iiients,
4'641nal"nielefit, 4hIch teek plade at the
Same 'thick), lie eastern or "1O" iveithiii e"Mity of La6 'Ontario.
Here, where the waters of the lake contracting, aSsunier the diinensiens 'of la the St. 'La*rence;enilititeing `thensand
comitiettee's, under that
arms `tlie''fitiqamed Thetikind
name ,Its4
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of the'lake, ittheienth'ef the River Cataraqiii;StanilsAhe teWn
and 'fine' hi:Cr 1;6'6r' Of Kingsten,'whilotne seleCted;'and with "much
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since the disturbance of the arrangement mentioned, an apple of
discord, cast down, in turn, to the competition and confusion of
every important city in the province ; which has convulsed parliaments, destroyed ministries, which yields only, and with reluctance,
to the arbitrament of the Queen ; and against which, even now,
though the masses approve, each disappointed competitor exclaims,
in the spirit of an epigram on the marriage of our Second Charles
to Catharine of Braganza.

Here, in 1673, with the , tact and foresight of a soldier, the Count
de Frontenac, thenGovernor of Canada; establisheif a foil, called,
at first Cataraqui, and afterwards b y his own name which fell into
the hands of the British in 1759-60. 1111787 the British abandoned
their previous naval establishment, on barietenisland, WhiCh happened to fall within the American boundary line, and, from that
time, Kingston became their chief establishment on Lake Ontario;
their best harbour, and the focus from whence radiated their
future settlements on the shores of the lake, and the River St.
Lawrence.
'

On the opposite coast of this northern Bosphorus, sheltered by
large intervening islands, lies Sackett's Harbour—the American
Cherbourg, as it has been called,—but with little to suggest the
comparison, beyond a small and safe harbour, and defensible environs. Without comparing Kingston to Portsmouth, it was the
only British naval estahliShment on Lake Ontario; and without
exaggerating the strength of Sackett's Harbour, it had sheltered
and equipped a fine. squadron
which, under Commodore Chauncey,
.
had sacked York, and reduced Fort George.
Both Kingston and Sackett's Harbour had, for long, been objects
of mutual apprehension. Enterprises had been planned on both
sides for the destruction of either, as a sure means of naval supremacy, and_ ultimate conquest ; but up to a very late period the
opportunities of the Americans had exceeded those of the British.
How far , they, had improved their chances has been already shown;
but the arrival of Sir James Yeo at Kingston, early in the month,
with about 500 officers and men, of the Royal Navy, and the corn-