Our County and Its People: A Descriptive Work on Erie County, New York (Volume 1), Part 26

Author: Truman C. White
Publication date: 1898
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1017

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The gallant conduct of the militia in this affair was to a great extent due to the brave example of Adjutant Staunton,' who farther distin- guished himself on other occasions in this war. The Senecas, too, ex- hibited their customary daring under fire and showed little of the savagery with which they have been credited; they, however, stripped naked every one of the dead enemy. While in many respects this affair was of minor importance, from a military point of view, it was second only to the later burning of Buffalo in the record of events that took place upon the soil of Erie county during this war.'

1 Bishopp was an English baronet and had served with distinction in Holland, Spain and Portugal. He was only thirty years old at the time of his death. He was buried near Lundy's Lane, and his sisters erected a monument over his resting place.

? He was father of Phineas Staunton, the brave lieutenant-colonel of the 100th New York Vol- unteers in the late Civil war.

3 The entire loss of the British during this expedition, in killed, wounded, and missing, must

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General Porter and Colonel Chapin soon took a body of volunteers, with a hundred or more Indians, and proceeded to Fort George, in the vicinity of which during the summer numerous skirmishes and raids occurred. Near the end of July an attempt was made to capture a large quantity of stores at Burlington Heights. For this purpose Commodore Chauncey sailed from the mouth of the Niagara on the 28th of the month, with Col. Winfield Scott and 300 land troops. Be- fore their arrival at their destination, the British so strongly reinforced the troops in charge of the stores that Chauncey's force was too small to make an attack with prospects of success. The British reinforce- ments were drawn from Toronto, leaving that place undefended, and Chauncey sailed thither, entering the harbor on the 31st of July, with- out opposition; Scott landed his troops, burned the barracks, store- houses and eleven transports, and destroyed the cannon. The expedi- tion returned to Niagara August 3.

According to the report of General Boyd, Porter and Chapin were " very impatient to engage the enemy," and to gratify them a plan was made to cut off one of the enemy's pickets on the 17th of August. Chapin was ordered out of Fort George with about 300 volunteers and Indians, and 200 regulars under Major Cummings. Porter volunteered to accompany the movement and possibly was chief in command. On account of a heavy rain the main object was not accomplished, but a fight took place in which the volunteers and Indians captured sixteen prisoners and killed a number of the enemy. A number of the principal chiefs of the Senecas took part in this affair. On the 7th of September Chapin with his volunteers and most of the Indians returned to Buffalo.

At the close of July Perry, whose previous movements have been noticed, had about 300 effective officers and men at Erie, with which to man two twenty-gun brigs and eight smaller vessels. Erie was threatened by the British and General Porter had already sent word from Black Rock that the enemy was concentrating at Long Point, on the Canada shore opposite. Capt. Robert H. Barclay was in command

have been almost seventy. Some estimated it as high as one hundred. The loss of the Americans was three killed and five wounded. Two of the latter were Indians. The destruction of property was not so great as has been generally represented. The Americans did not lose, by destruction or plunder, more than one-third of the valuable naval stores at Black Rock, collected for Commo- dore Perry, nor did they reach a particle of the military stores for the use of the army, then de- posited at Buffalo. The enemy destroyed or captured 4 cannon, 177 English and French muskets, 1 three-pounder traveling carriage, 6 ammunition kegs, a small quantity of round and case shot, 123 barrels of salt, 46 barrels of whisky, considerable clothing and blankets, and a small quantity of other stores .- Clark's Official Report.

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of the British fleet. Though deplorably short of men Perry was restive and determined to sail out on the lake in quest of British ships. After cruising about for a few days the squadron left Erie on the 12th of August and made their rendezvous in Put in-Bay on the 15th, having in the mean time been reinforced by Capt. Jesse D. Elliott and about one hundred superior officers and men. Perry sailed up the lake for Sandusky to notify Harrison that he was ready for co-operation with him. Harrison visited Perry on his flagship on the 19th and a plan of campaign was arranged. This included the transportation of Harrison's 8,000 troops and Indians to Malden. On the 21st Harrison returned to his camp and Perry spent the time from then until the 10th of Septem- ber in reconnoitering, making in the mean time another voyage to Harrison at Sandusky Bay. On the evening of the 9th he called his officers and gave them detailed instructions, for he had determined to seek the enemy at his anchorage, if he did not come out. Fortunately for Perry, Barclay was forced to make an attempt to open communica- tion with Long Point, on account of scarcity of provisions for the British troops. The cry, "Sail ho!" rang out from the mast head of Perry's flagship, the Lawrence, on the clear morning of September 10, and the gallant young commodore knew that he would now have an opportunity to win renown, though against large odds. Perry's squadron numbered nine vessels and was armed with fifty-four carriage guns and two swivels Barclay had thirty-five long guns to Perry's fifteen, giving him great advantage in fighting at a distance; on the other hand the advantage lay with the Americans in close fighting. The force of men was nearly equal on both fleets.

It is unnecessary to describe in detail the naval battle that was fought on that day between those two fleets. It has gone into history as one of the most remarkable engagements ever fought on the water, consid- ering the numbers engaged. Every intelligent person is familiar with its story of brilliant deeds-how the flagship Lawrence was subjected to such a storm of shot that she lay a battered hulk upon the waves; how twenty two were slain and sixty-one wounded on her decks from the 103 of her officers and men; how Perry in this critical situation left her and was rowed in an open boat amid a shower of bullets to the Niagara, which was still almost uninjured; how the contest was re- newed at close quarters; how Perry dashed through the British line with the Niagara and was followed by most of the other vessels; how at 3 o'clock the flag of the British ship Detroit was lowered, the

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smoke of battle cleared away and the victory was won. It was a proud moment for Perry and his men, and he sent to Harrison the memorable dispatch, "We have met the enemy and they are ours." 1

Perry's victory gave the sovereignty of Lake Erie to the Americans and exerted a powerful influence in their favor throughout the coun- try.' It was followed by Harrison's successful campaign in Canada against Proctor and the death of Tecumseh. These events, in con- junction with a continuing series of American successes on the sea, including the capture of the Boxer by the Enterprise, of the Peacock by the Hornet; the desperate battle between the Chesapeake and the Shannon, in which the American vessel was captured; the successful cruise of the Essex, and other notable events, gave renewed stimulus to the government and dispelled some of the discouragement that had pervaded many sections of the country.'

Believing that the upper peninsula was substantially cleared of the enemy, General Wilkinson withdrew most of his troops to the lower end of Lake Ontario. This was an impolitic measure and received condemnation from General Porter, Colonel Chapin and Col. Joseph McClure, who wrote Wilkinson from Black Rock to the effect that they had expected him to make a decisive movement and had, therefore, gone to Fort George with 500 men to share in it. "Most of us," they wrote, "remained there twelve or fourteen days, but our hopes not being realized, the men continually dispersed and went home." These three officers then offered to raise a thousand or more men to either aid Wilkinson in making a sally from Fort George, or, if furnished with artillery, to invade the enemy's country and thoroughly conquer

1 On Wednesday, at ten o'clock, Major Chapin fired a salute at the battery in honor of the vic- tory. In the evening the village was brilliantly illuminated. A large procession formed and marched through the streets, preceded by music .- Buffalo Gazette.

" The effect of this victory was deeply impressive on the British mind, and the newspapers in the provinces and the mother country indulged in lamentations over the want of vigor in prose- cution of the war manifested by the ministry. "We have been conquered on Lake Erie," said a Halifax journal, "and so we shall be on every other lake, if we take as little care to protect them. Their success is less owing to their prowess than to our neglect." A London paper sought to console their country by saying, "It may, however, serve to diminish our vexation at the oc- currence to learn that the flotilla in question was not any branch of the British navy. . . . It was not the Royal Navy, but a local force-a kind of mercantile military."

' The tone of the President's message to that body [Congress| was hopeful and even joyous, for the late achievements of the national power gave promises of great good. Financial matters were quite as favorable as when Congress adjourned in August. Abundant harvests had re- warded the labors of the husbandman. The people were becoming more and more a unit in opinion concerning the righteousness of the war on the part of the Government, and its bene- ficial effects in developing the internal resources of the country; also in demonstrating the ability of a free government to protect itself against a powerful foe .- Lossing.

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him before Wilkinson's forces were withdrawn. This proposition was forwarded to the secretary of war by Wilkinson, but no action was taken upon it. The beginning of mismanagement on our frontier which was to continue through the winter was at hand.

It was a part of Wilkinson's plans to destroy and abandon Fort George, but orders reached him from Washington to " put that work in a con- dition to resist assault; to leave there an efficient garrison of at least 600 troops; to remove Capt. Nathaniel Leonard, of the first regiment of artillery, from the command of Fort Niagara and give it to Capt. George Armistead, of the same regiment; to accept the services of a volunteer corps offered by Gen. Peter B. Porter and others, and to commit the command of Fort George and the Niagara frontier to Brig- adier Gen. Moses Porter." These orders were only partially executed. Leonard was left in command of Fort Niagara; no arrangement was made for accepting General Porter's volunteers, and Colonel Scott, in- stead of General (Moses) Porter, was placed in command of Fort George, instructed that if the British should abandon the frontier, as it was be- lieved they would, to leave the fort in command of Brigadier-Gen. George McClure, and with the regulars join the expedition proposed on the St. Lawrence. These dispositions made, Wilkinson embarked with his army on Chauncey's fleet October 2, and sailed eastward. Scott immediately strengthened Fort George. The before mentioned defeat of Proctor and the consequent retrograde movement of the Brit- ish from the head of Lake Ontario, caused Scott, in accordance with his orders, to take his regulars across the river (October 13) to the American shore and proceed eastward.

On the 6th of October the ever-restless Chapin gathered another mixed body of men and went out against the British outposts near Fort George. Encounteriug the enemy he had a skirmish in which three of his men were killed and, according to his statement, eighteen of the enemy. On the 24th of that month the victorious fleet of Perry came down the lake, accompanied by General Harrison, and stopped at Buf- falo. The little village honored them as far as the citizens were able. On the following day the two commanders were given a dinner at " Pomeroy's Eagle," as the report has it, which had been reopened a little earlier. Colonel Chapin's name appears at the head of the list of the committee of arrangements, while General Porter presided at the dinner, with Chapin, Charles Townsend and Dr. Trowbridge, vice- presidents. The next day Harrison and his troops went down to Fort George and a little later proceeded to Sackett's Harbor.

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The troops left at Fort George by Wilkinson under command of Gen- eral McClure, consisted of about 1,000 militia, 60 regulars, and 250 In- dians. He made his headquarters at Fort George, and like a former commander on the frontier, soon issued several flaming proclamations. The period of enlistment of the militia was expiring and they would not stay a day after the end of their term. A draft was accordingly or- dered about the middle of November of 600 men from Hopkins's brig- ade, under Lieut .- Colonel Warren. These marched to Fort George where they remained nearly a month.

CHAPTER XVI.

CAMPAIGN OF 1818-(Continued.)

Its Importance to Erie County-Disheartening Situation of the Americans-Fort George Abandoned-Burning of Newark-The Act Condemned-British Retalia- tion-Capture of Fort Niagara by the British-McClure's Retreat to Batavia-Sack- ing and Burning of Youngstown and Lewiston-Advance of the Enemy-Battle of Black Rock-Erie County Participants-Rout of the Americans-Burning of Buf- falo and Black Rock-Flight of the Inhabitants-Scenes and Incidents-Bravery of Mrs. St. John-Murder of Mrs. Lovejoy-Return of the Enemy-Destruction of Buffalo Completed-Suffering During the Winter-Measures for Relief.

The two closing months of 1813 were pregnant with great events in Erie county and along the Niagara frontier. Through the ill-advised action of one American officer the dwellers along the Niagara River from the fort at its mouth to Buffalo village were made to feel the ruthless hand of war in the enemy's torch applied to their homes and in the fire of his guns, until they were forced to fly into a sparsely settled wilderness amid the rigors of midwinter.

McClure was now almost alone in Fort George, his garrison having been reduced to about sixty regulars, and the volunteers and militia whose terms of enlistment were rapidly expiring. These he endeav- ored to retain by offering bounties, but they refused to remain.' Mean- while failure was attending a St. Lawrence expedition which had been ·

1 " I offered a bounty of two dollars a month for one or two months, but without effect. Some few of Colonel Bloom's regiment took the bounty and immediately disappeared." -- McClure in Buffalo Gazette.

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undertaken, and when information came from the westward that Lieutenant-General Drummond and Major-General Riall had arrived on the peninsula with reinforcements from Kingston, and that a body of troops under Colonel Murray was moving towards Fort George, McClure determined to abandon the post and place his garrison in Fort Niagara. Had he contented himself with such a proceeding " only, the consequences might have been less disastrous; but he disliked to leave the comfortable quarters in Fort George to the enemy, with the village of Newark near at hand, as a constant menace to his own position. Hence, and under sanction of what Lossing characterizes as the "itinerant war department,"1 McClure gave the inhabitants of Newark a few hours' notice, attempted to blow up Fort George while his men were crossing the icy flood of Niagara, and applied the torch to the village. Only one of the 150 houses in the place was left stand- ing, and a large number of helpless women and children were driven from their homes into the severe winter weather. This act, although in a certain sense authorized by the War Department, has been gen- erally condemned as cruel, unnecessary and impolitic. Col. Cyrenius Chapin was there and he had a bitter quarrel with McClure over the event. Intense feeling had already arisen between the two officers on account of McClure's alleged action on the occasion of a raid made by Chapin on December 7, along the south shore of Lake Ontario. The latter claimed that McClure not only left him unsupported at that time, but had expressed a desire that Chapin should be captured. Chapin soon afterward resigned.

McClure placed 150 regulars in Fort Niagara and on the 12th went to Buffalo, whither he called 200 other regulars from Canandaigua. The British were smarting under the reckless burning of Newark. "Let us retaliate by fire and sword," said Murray to Drummond, as they gazed upon the ashes of the village. "Do so, swiftly and thor- oughly," was the reply. On the night of December 18 Murray, with about 1,000 British and Indians, crossed the river at or near Five-mile Meadows (as the place is still known), and the regulars marched on

1 From Sackett's Harbor the secretary of war wrote as follows: War Department, October 4, 1818.

Sir,-Understanding that the defense of the post committed to your charge may render it proper to destroy the town of Newark, you are hereby directed to apprise the inhabitants of this circumstance, and invite them to remove themselves and their effects to some place of greater safety.

JOHN ARMSTRONG.

Brigadier-General McClure, or officer commanding at Fort George.

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with the intention of storming the fort; but this was not necessary; the pickets were captured without raising an alarm and the gates of the fort were found open, although it was several hours before sunrise. The garrison of 450 men was captured. Captain Leonard, who had been left in command of the fort, with orders to be vigilant and active, as an invasion might be expected, left the fort the previous evening and passed the night with his family several miles above Youngstown. For this unaccountable act he was suspected of treason, and many writers have not hesitated to condemn him in sweeping terms.

Whatever was his excuse for leaving the fort, it is not now believed by those most competent to judge that he was guilty of treachery.'

It is far more probable that he greatly desired to visit his family and did not fully appreciate the danger of an attack by the British. Leon- ard returned to the fort and was made a prisoner, and afterwards left the service. A little opposition to the British was shown by the occu- pants of the eastern blockhouse and the "red barracks," during which a lieutenant and five men of the invading forces were killed and Col- onel Murray and four others were wounded.

The bloodshed might have ended there, but the spirit of revenge was

! The following information on this subject has been recently furnished the editor by the Hon. William Pool of Niagara Falls, who has taken the pains to thoroughly investigate the matter: "There are reasons for believing that Captain Leonard was unjustly accused. He was not at Five-mile Meadows, probably did not then own the place -- not far below Lewiston-but had gone to attend his sick wife at Four-mile Creek, leaving a subordinate in command. It had been known two or three weeks that an invasion was being planned, and with this knowledge, Colonel McClure had gone to Buffalo to secure aid for defense. Full preparations had been made to defend the fort, guns placed, etc., and a battery on the brow of the mountain, overlooking Lewiston and the river below, was in charge of an officer instructed to watch for any attempted crossing and signal the fort by firing three cannon shots. The signal was given as the enemy crossed not far from Five- mile Meadows. If unheard at the fort it is evidence in support of a well authenticated report that the garrison slept under a drunken debauch, and that accounts for the easy capture. Robert Fleming, father of William Fleming (born in Lewiston in 1817, and now living in Buffalo), was stationed at the battery and related the particulars to his son years afterwards. He was subse- quently a member of the State Legislature, and was always on the most friendly terms with Cap- tain Leonard, when he afterwards resided at Five-mile Meadows. The Bartons and other prom- inent Lewistonians were also intimate friends of Captain Leonard, and as all these were intensely patriotic, they must have known the truth in the matter. Captain Leonard was one of the first trustees of the Lewiston Academy, organized only about ten years after, and this is evidence in his favor. It was natural for the pioneer settlers to accept suggestions of disloyalty. My father and grandfather had to flee and suffer accordingly, and often repeated these common reports. Turner says Captain Leonard was tried and dismissed the service, but we can find no evidence in proof and it probably cannot be had outside the War Department. It is believed to be erroneous. The late Hon. W. H. Merritt, father of Hon. J. S. Merritt, of St. Catherines, had command of part of the British forces, but did not participate in the invasion, being sick at his home. In his me- moirs published by his son, it is stated that Captain Leonard was captured and sent to Quebec. In my youth I heard much of the bitter feeling among pioneer settlers on the frontier. Suspicion easily grew to positive statement, and of such too much history was made."

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rife among the British troops and Murray made no effort to curb it. As a result about eighty of the Americans, some of them in hospital, were slain after resistance had substantially ceased.' The wounded numbered fourteen and about 344 were made prisoners; about twenty escaped.

Murray fired one of the large guns of the fort as a signal to General Riall, who was at Queenston with a body of regulars and about 500 In - dians awaiting the news.

McClure does not escape censure for his actions in connection with the capture of Niagara and immediately succeeding events. While not directly responsible for the initial disaster, excepting through his fool- hardy burning of Newark, he must be held to a great extent account- able for the later and still more deplorable occurrences.

As soon as he learned of the capture of Niagara, and against urgent protests of citizens, he took his regulars and retreated to Batavia. Had he remained at Buffalo, a force might have gathered around him ade- quate to defend the village.' Before he left Buffalo he called out the militia of Genesee, Niagara and Chautauqua counties and on his arrival at Batavia turned over his command to Major General Hall.

When General Riall heard Murray's signal gun announcing the cap- ture of Fort Niagara on the 19th, he immediately crossed the Niagara at Lewiston and took possession of the village, Major Bennett, and a detachment of militia at Fort Grey, on the heights, offering little opposition. At the same time Murray's troops plundered and burned the few houses then comprising Youngstown. Riall and his Indian allies sacked and burned Lewiston and a large part of the village was soon in ashes. Several persons were killed.' Full license was given to the In- dians and, of course, was exercised by the troops. The little son of Solomon Gillet was killed and others slain were Thomas March, Miles Gillet (another son of Solomon), Dr. Alvord, and two men named

' This statement is asserted by some authority to be exaggerated, but it is quite fully substan- tiated.

" Affidavits were afterwards published, showing that McClure said in his anger that he hoped Buffalo would be burned ; that he would remain and defend it provided the citizens would catch "that damned rascal, Chapin," and deliver him bound into his (McClure's) hands. Several of his staff officers, also, were proven to have indulged in similar disgraceful language in his presence. unrebuked ; expressing their entire willingness that the village should be burned.

3 A letter to the editor of Niles's Weekly Register, written from the frontier, said : "They killed at and near Lewiston eight or ten of the inhabitants, who, when found, were all scalped with the exception of one, whose head wascut off. Among the bodies was that of a boy ten or twelve years old, stripped and scalped."

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Tiffany and Finch. Reuben Lewis, another citizen, who had agreed with a neighbor that they would not be taken alive, was slain after hav- ing been wounded.

The invaders now pushed on towards Niagara Falls (then called Manchester), but were, according to McClure's report to Governor Tompkins, checked on the Lewiston Heights by Major Mallory and about forty Canadian volunteers, who went down from Schlosser and "fought the foe for two days as they pushed him steadily back towards Buffalo." The inhabitants of Lewiston fled from their homes amid the frost and snow of December, most of them following the Ridge road. At Dickersonville the people were alarmed by a number of the friendly Tuscaroras who were hurrying on eastward. A body of these Indians met the pursuers on the brow of the Mountain Ridge, and temporarily checked their progress, giving the flying fugitives time to escape. The detailed record of that flight is filled with startling in- cidents of peril and suffering.

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Our County and Its People: A Descriptive Work on Erie County, New York (Volume 1), Part 26

Author: Truman C. White Publication date: 1898 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1017

Author: Truman C. White
Publication date: 1898
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1017