The battle of Lundy’s Lane was the best contested action of the war
of 1812. On the afternoon of the 24th of July, 1814, General Brown
received a notice that the British general had thrown a thousand men
across the lake to Lewistown, nine miles below Chippewa. To divert them
from what he supposed to be their object, the American general ordered
General Winfield Scott, with his brigade of thirteen hundred men, to
advance and threaten the forts at the mouth of the Niagara. Scott,
advancing more than two miles, suddenly found himself in front of the
whole British army, drawn up in Lundy’s Lane. Undaunted, he formed
his line, and the struggle began. For two hours, the fiercest and the
most desperate valor was displayed on both sides. Every attempt of the
British to turn the flanks of the gallant band opposed to them failed.
Their own left was turned and cut off, but their centre stood firm.
Night came on, and the struggle was continued solely by the flashes of
the guns. The American line had suffered much, but the remnants
of the troops stood their ground with indomitable resolution. About
ten o’clock the ammunition of the troops began to fail. But General
Brown at length came up with strong reinforcements, and relieved the
exhausted men. A more equal fight now ensued. Brown determined to carry
the battery on the height at the head of the lane, that being the key
of the enemy’s position. Riding up to Colonel Miller, he asked him if
he would storm the height.
[Illustration: SCOTT PILOTING MILLER.]
“I will try, sir!” was the heroic reply. Piloted by Scott, through
the darkness to the foot of the ascent, Miller seized the guns almost
instantaneously. Meanwhile General Ripley engaged the enemy, and was
supported by the gallant Scott, who had two horses shot under him,
and was wounded in the side, but kept the field until a wound in the
shoulder brought him to the ground. General Brown was severely wounded,
and, with Scott, taken from the field. The command now devolved on
General Ripley. But the battle was nearly over. The British made one
more charge, and were repulsed in disorder, and then the firing ceased.
Ripley retired to the camp at Chippewa. In this bloody and well fought
battle, the Americans lost eight hundred and sixty men, killed and
wounded. The loss of the enemy was about one thousand men. One of their
generals, Riall, was captured.
[Illustration: BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN.]