{149}
_Armstrong's Plans--Position of the Troops--Descent of the St.
Lawrence--Battle of Chrysler's Field--Hampton's Defeat--Cost of
the Campaign--Effects on the Niagara Frontier--Capture of Fort
Niagara--Destruction of Buffalo and other Villages._
|The final military operations of this year on the northern border were
the most disappointing, and on the whole the most disgraceful, of any
that had been undertaken. General John Armstrong had become Secretary of
War early in the year, and in February had submitted a plan, which the
President at once approved, for the conquest of Canada by means of an
expedition against Montreal.
Armstrong had seen service in the Revolution, and was the author of
the anonymous "Newburg Addresses," which had given Washington so much
trouble. Although he planned the expedition in February, he allowed the
entire summer to go by before attempting its execution, and it set out
in October, the worst time of year for such an undertaking. The first
requisite for any military movement is, that it shall be under
the supreme command of some one man. But the left wing of the army
{150}which was to make this one was commanded by General James
Wilkinson, at Sackett's Harbor, while the right wing was under General
Wade Hampton, at Plattsburg, and between these two officers there was
not only no cordial friendship, but a positive jealousy that rendered it
almost impossible for them to act in concert. Although Wilkinson was the
ranking officer, Hampton maintained that his own must be considered as a
separate and independent command, and himself not subordinate to anybody
but the Secretary of War. He thus put in practice on a small scale a
vicious principle whose advocacy on a vastly larger scale has since
given some of his descendants an unenviable prominence.
So old a soldier as Armstrong should have known that the first thing
necessary to the success of his scheme was the removal of one or the
other of these officers, and conferring upon some one general the
absolute command of all forces that were to take part in it. As he had
stationed himself and his War Department at Sackett's Harbor, he perhaps
imagined that he could direct the expedition from there, and, holding
both generals subordinate to himself, cause the two wings to act in
concert. If so, he was wofully mistaken. A man sixty years of age, who
owned three thousand slaves and was accustomed to no check upon his
least caprice, who {151}now had four thousand troops under his command
--a large number in that war--and was distant a hundred and fifty miles
from his superior, with a wilderness between, could not be expected to
hold himself subordinate to anybody.
General Wilkinson had removed most of the troops from Fort George on
the Niagara, taking them down the lake, and he now had a total force of
about eight thousand men. The right wing, under Hampton, numbered half
as many more. The final plan was, to move down the St. Lawrence with
Wilkinson's force, while Hampton's moved northward to unite with it at
or near the mouth of the Chateaugua; the combined force then to strike
for Montreal. Wilkinson rendezvoused his troops at Grenadier Island,
eighteen miles below Sackett's Harbor, near the point where the waters
of the lake find their outlet in the St. Lawrence. The British were
apprised of the movement, and drew a large force from the Niagara
frontier to Kingston, supposing that was to be the point of attack; and
indeed this had been the first intention of the Americans. To strengthen
this impression on the part of the enemy, and induce him to hold his
forces at Kingston as long as possible, Wilkinson appointed a second
rendezvous at the mouth of French Creek, eighteen miles farther down.
The command of the {152}advance was given to General Jacob Brown, who
had successfully defended Sackett's Harbor in May. On the 1st and 2d
of November the British squadron attacked the advance, but without
effecting anything.
On the 5th Wilkinson's entire force moved down the St. Lawrence. They
occupied more than three hundred boats, which made a procession five
miles long. At Prescott the river was commanded by British batteries,
and to avoid them Wilkinson debarked his troops and stores a short
distance above that place, and sent them by land to Red Mill, some
distance below. The boats were run by the batteries at night, and
escaped injury, though under a heavy fire for a considerable time.
But it was found that the enemy had planted batteries at several other
places, to obstruct and if possible destroy the flotilla. Colonel
Alexander Macomb was ordered to cross the river with twelve hundred of
the best troops in the army, and, marching down the north bank, abreast
of the flotilla, drive away or capture the gunners. In this task he was
assisted by Forsyth's riflemen, who crossed a little later. The cavalry
and Brown's brigade passed over next day.
They found plenty of fighting to do, though of a desultory kind. There
was a battery at nearly {153}every narrow place in the river, and
small parties of the enemy were continually hanging on the rear of
the Americans, firing whenever they found a chance. Eight miles
below Hamilton, Macomb had a fight with a party strongly posted in a
block-house, and succeeded in driving them out.
Meanwhile General De Rottenburg, who had come down to Kingston from
Queenstown, sent a force of fifteen hundred men, with two schooners and
seven gunboats, to follow the expedition and attack its rear guard
at every opportunity. It was Commodore Chauncey's duty to prevent any
British force from leaving the harbor of Kingston at this time; but
unaccountably he failed to do it. On the 9th the American riflemen had a
brisk skirmish with a body of Canadian militia and Indians, and finally
drove them off.
By the 10th the Long Rapid was reached, and Wilkinson put most of his
men ashore, that the boats might shoot the rapid with greater safety.
That evening the British gun-boats came up and opened a cannonade
upon the barges, which for a time threatened to destroy them. But the
Americans took two eighteen-pounders ashore, and improvised a battery,
with which they soon drove off the gun-boats.
By this time the enemy's forces were pretty well {154}united in the rear
of the expedition, and the gunboats had been brought to act in concert.
It was evident that the Americans could not safely proceed farther till
a battle had been fought.
The troops were encamped on the farm of John Chrysler, a captain in the
British service, a short distance below Williamsburg. On the morning of
the 11th it was found that the enemy had taken a position close in the
rear, in battle order, his left resting on a swamp, and his right on the
river, where his gun-boats were moored. His line was well placed, and he
had three pieces of artillery in position. As General Wilkinson was too
ill to take the field, or even rise from his bed, the command of the
American forces devolved upon General John Parker Boyd. Boyd, now about
fifty years of age, had entered the United States service as early as
1786, but later had been a soldier of fortune in India, raising and
equipping there, at his own expense, a force of fifteen hundred men, and
selling their services to the highest bidder. Still later he returned to
the United States, and was with Harrison at the battle of Tippecanoe.
Orders were given to drive back the enemy, and General Robert
Swartwout's brigade dashed into the woods and routed the British
advance, which fell back upon the main body. The brigade of General
{155}Leonard Covington supported Swartwout's, attacking the British
right while Swartwout attacked the left. It was a cold, raw day, and
part of the time there was snow and sleet in the air. There were charges
and counter-charges, the contending columns alternately advancing and
retiring across ploughed fields, where the men were often up to
their knees in mud. All the romance of war was lacking, while all its
disagreeable elements were present in full force. There were wounds
enough, and death enough, and misery enough, and, as it proved, no
decisive or profitable victory for either side. The Americans had the
greater number of men, but this advantage was fully counterbalanced by
the fact that they were, the attacking party, and there were several
deep ravines which they could not cross with their artillery to bring it
into use, while the British used their own guns throughout the action.
The attack was spirited and determined, and seemed likely to succeed;
but after a while the American right wing found its ammunition
exhausted, and about the same time the left was discouraged and thrown
into some confusion by the fall of General Covington, mortally wounded.
The enemy now massed troops on his right wing, and pressed forward
heavily, so that he captured one of the American guns; a charge of
cavalry under Adjutant{156}General Walbach, and the coolness and
bravery of Captain Armstrong Irvine, being all that prevented him from
seizing the others.
For two hours longer the contest swayed to and fro across the miry
fields for the distance of a mile, till the Americans brought up a
reserve of six hundred men under Lieutenant-Colonel Upham, by which
order was restored and the line firmly established, to await the next
onset of the enemy. But no further assault was made, and in the night
the Americans retired unmolested to their boats.
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 {157}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 de{158}tour, 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 con{159}tact 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. {160}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 {161}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.
{162}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.
This needless cruelty produced its natural result; Drummond determined
upon swift and ample retaliation. In the night of December 18th, just
one week after the burning of Newark, he threw across the Niagara a
force of five hundred and fifty men. They landed at Five Mile Meadows,
three miles above Fort Niagara, and marched upon it at once, arriving
there at four o'clock in the morning. McClure, who had received an
intimation of the enemy's intention to devastate the American
fron{163}tier, had gone to Buffalo to raise a force to oppose him. The
garrison of the fort consisted of about four hundred and fifty men, a
large number of whom were in the hospital. The command had been left to
a Captain Leonard, who at this time was three miles away, sleeping at a
farm-house.
The most elaborate preparations had been made for the capture of the
fort, including scaling-ladders for mounting the bastions. But the
Americans seemed to have studied to make the task as easy as possible.
The sentries were seized and silenced before they could give any alarm,
and the main gate was found standing wide open, so that the British had
only to walk straight in and begin at once the stabbing which had been
determined upon.
The guard in the south-east block-house fired one volley, by which the
British commander, Colonel Murray, was wounded, and a portion of the
invalids made what resistance they could. A British lieutenant and
five men were killed, and a surgeon and three men wounded. Sixty-five
Americans, two thirds of whom were invalids, were bayoneted in their
beds; fifteen others, who had taken refuge in the cellars, were
despatched in the same manner, and fourteen were wounded; twenty
escaped, and all the others, about three hundred and forty, were made
prisoners. Some accounts say also that the {164}women, in the fort were
treated with great cruelty and indignity.
On the same morning, General Riall, with a detachment of British troops
and five hundred Indians, crossed from Queenstown and attacked Lewiston.
The small force of Americans here, under Major Bennett, fought till they
were surrounded, and then cut their way out through the enemy, losing
eight men. The village was then plundered and burned, the savages adding
all the atrocities characteristic of their mode of warfare.
Riall next marched his troops through the villages of Youngstown,
Tuscarora, and Manchester (now Niagara Falls), and plundered and burned
them all, while the terror-stricken inhabitants were butchered or driven
away. Nor was the devastation confined to the villages. For several
miles from the river, the houses and barns of the farmers were
destroyed, and the women and children either killed or turned
shelterless into the woods and fields.
The bridge over Tonawanda Creek had been destroyed by the Americans, and
at this point the enemy turned back, and soon recrossed the Niagara to
the Canada side.
The alarm at Buffalo brought General Hall, of the New York militia,
to that village, where he arrived the day after Christmas. He found
collected there {165}a body of seventeen hundred men, whom it would have
been gross flattery to call a "force." They were poorly supplied with
arms and cartridges, and had no discipline and almost no organization.
Another regiment of three hundred soon joined them, but without adding
much to their efficiency.
On the 28th of December, Drummond reconnoitred the American camp, and
determined to attack it; for which purpose he sent over General Riall
on the evening of the 29th with fourteen hundred and fifty men, largely
regulars, and a body of Indians. One detachment landed two miles
below Black Rock, crossed Canajokaties Creek in the face of a slight
resistance, and took possession of a battery. The remainder landed at
a point between Buffalo and Black Rock, under cover of a battery on the
Canadian shore. Poor as Hall's troops were, they stood long enough to
fire upon the invaders and inflict considerable loss.
As the enemy landed here and formed in battle order, Hall with his raw
militia attacked both wings and for a short time made a gallant fight,
especially on the American left, where Lieutenant-Colonel Blakeslie
handled four hundred Ontario county men remarkably well and disputed
the ground with great firmness. Both sides had artillery, with which the
action was opened. As it progressed, however, the {166}American line
was broken in the centre, and Hall was compelled to fall back. His
subsequent attempts to rally his men were of no avail, and he himself
seems to have lost heart; as Lieutenant Riddle, who had about eighty
regulars, offered to place them in front for the encouragement of the
militia to new exertion, but Hall declined. Riddle then offered, if
Hall would give him two hundred men, to attempt to save the village from
destruction, and at least to bring away the women and children, that
they might not fall under the tomahawk and scalping-knife; but even this
the General refused, and the village was then left to its fate, though
Riddle went in with his own men and rescued the contents of the arsenal
and some other property.
Both Buffalo and Black Rock were sacked and burned, and no mercy was
shown. With but two or three exceptions, those of the inhabitants who
were not able to run away were massacred, many of them being first
submitted to torture and indignity. It is related that in Buffalo a
widow named St. John "had the address to appease the ferocity of the
enemy so far as to remain in her house uninjured." Her house and the
stone jail were the only buildings not laid in ashes. In Black Rock
every building was either burned or blown up, except one log house, in
which a few women and children had taken refuge. {167}Whether they had
the peculiar address necessary to "appease the ferocity of the enemy,"
or were merely overlooked, is not recorded. Five vessels lying at the
wharves were also burned.
In this expedition the British lost a hundred and eight men, killed,
wounded, or missing. More than fifty of the Americans were found dead on
the field. Truly, an abundant revenge had been taken for the burning of
Newark. McClure, who had given the provocation for these atrocities, was
an Irishman, and the absurdity of his whole course in the matter
seemed calculated to justify the common sarcasms levelled against his
countrymen for want of foresight.
All that the Americans had gained on the northern frontier during the
year 1813, with the exception of the territory of Michigan, restored by
Harrison's victory, had now been lost, and on New Year's day of 1814
the settlers along the whole length of the Niagara--those of them who
survived--were shivering beside the smouldering embers of their homes.