USA > New York > Erie County > Our county and its people : a descriptive work on Erie County, New York, Volume I > Part 23
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We, the chiefs and counselors of the Six Nations of Indians, residing in the State of New York, do hereby proclaim to all the war chiefs and warriors of the Six Na- tions that war is declared on our part against the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada. Therefore, we command and advise all the war chiefs and warriors of the Six Nations to call forth immediately the warriors under them, and put them in mo- tion to protect their rights and liberties.
In spite of this declaration, however, and under the influence of such of their chiefs as really desired neutrality, and especially the still more powerful influence of early American disaster on the battle- field, the Indians shared very little in the conflict until the second year.
There was no lack of enthusiasm among the hastily-formed militia that was hurrying to the frontier; but their organization in regiments and companies was only temporary and incomplete, and discipline and
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efficiency were impossible. Lieutenant-Colonel Chapman, of the Buffalo and Clarence Regiment, moved away about the time of the be- ginning of the war, and his place was not filled until its close. Samuel Hill, jr., was the senior officer; but most of the Buffalonians seem to have been formed into separate companies, and Hill's command was thus so much reduced that when the militia was called out en masse, it was joined with Warren's regiment. When this raw militia finally reached a field where the air was pungent with the smell of gunpowder and bloodshed and death ran riot, it was little wonder that they were unable `to endure the trial.
Each of the two great political parties, between which the war policy had already drawn a sharply defined line, had its adherents in Erie county. While the war party was the more numerous in this section, there were many men of influence who anticipated and predicted only defeat and commercial disaster as consequences of the oncoming conflict. One feature of the political situation was the calling of a convention at Albany in September, where opponents of the war gathered to de- nounce the policy of the administration. Soon afterwards a call was published in Buffalo for a meeting of those who were termed the friends of "Peace, Liberty and Commerce " at "Pomeroy's long hall"; the proceedings of this meeting were, of course, in sympathy with those of the Albany convention. The real leader at that time in Buf- falo and its vicinity was Dr. Cyrenius Chapin, who, though an ardent Federalist, threw all his active energies into the defense of the imme- diate frontier.
The outline plan for the campaign of 1812 included the invasion of Upper Canada, in the West at Detroit and in the East at Niagara, and the employment of regulars, volunteers and militia. Some weight was given to the theory that a successful entry into Upper Canada would draw to the invaders a number of sympathizers with the republic, as it was known that many who had gone into Canada from the United States would not take up arms for Great Britain.
Early in the spring of 1812 Governor Hull, of Michigan, who was in Washington, informed the president that the British, in anticipation of war with the United States, had sent messengers throughout the Northwest, carrying arms and presents to the Indians and exhorting them to ally themselves with the English, should their anticipation prove a fact. On this account Governor Hull opposed the invasion of Canada from Detroit, as such a movement would throw his territory open to
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the destroying hand of the savages; he urged that provision be made for an ample military force to protect the western frontier and to hold the Indians in check, and laid particular stress upon the necessity for a fleet of vessels on Lake Erie. To a certain extent Hull's advice was taken ; Commander Stewart was sent to Lake Erie with orders to con- struct a fleet. The president called on Governor Meigs, of Ohio, for 1,200 militia, which, with a regiment of regulars, assembled at Dayton, Ohio, and were placed under the command of Governor Hull, who ar- rived on the 25th of May. The object of this organization was osten- sibly to protect the inhabitants of Northern Ohio and Michigan from the depredations of the Indians, but in reality to garrison the post at Detroit. Hull's march from Dayton to Detroit was a long and arduous one, roads having to be cut through dense forests much of the distance. He started on the 1st of June. As early as the 27th of June, Sir Isaac Brock while at York (Toronto) received information of the declaration of war, and within a few days every English post along the lakes had the news. When Hull arrived at Detroit, July 4, he discovered the English erecting fortifications across the river.
Hull's defense of Detroit was an ignominious failure, owing largely to his own incompetency, and the fort and troops, numbering about 2,000, were surrendered to the enemy on August 16. It was a humil- iating event.1
In August the massacre at Chicago occurred, which was incited by the British General Proctor, who was in command at Malden at the mouth of the Detroit River, a massacre unequaled in atrocity in the record of Indian barbarities. In the same month Proctor and Tecum- seh attacked Fort Wayne, but were repulsed. At the same time the Indians under British command attacked Fort Harrison on the Wabash, where Capt. Zachary Taylor was in command, which was successfully defended, though at the expense of much suffering, hard fighting and deprivation.
During the month of September, Gen. William Henry Harrison, who had been commissioned brigadier-general by President Madison in August, took command of the troops in the West, which had been freely furnished by Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia and Pennsylvania, and began an active campaign to subdue the Indians in that section, and also, if
1 Hull was paroled, retired to his farm in Massachusetts, was court-martialed in 1813, found guilty of cowardice and sentenced to be shot. His age and service in the Revolution caused the court to recommend mercy and he was pardoned by the president.
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possible, to invade Canada. This army suffered untold hardships, but, inspired by soldierly commanders, they performed arduous service, and as a whole the result of the campaign was favorable to the Americans.
On the Northern and Niagara frontiers operations began on the 19th of July by an attack on Sackett's Harbor by the British. When war was declared Gen. Jacob Brown was in command of the New York militia and was charged with the defense of the frontier from Oswego to Lake St. Francis. The only vessels on Lake Ontario belonging to the United States at this time were the brig Oneida and the schooner Lord Nelson, which had been captured in May for violation of the em- bargo act. On the 19th of July a squadron of five of the enemy's vessels appeared off Sackett's Harbor. The commander of the squadron sent word by a boatman he had captured that all he wanted was the Oneida and the Lord Nelson. Lieutenant Woolsey left his brig, from which he had removed some of the guns for a land battery, and took command on shore. After an engagement of two hours, the squadron sailed away with three of its vessels disabled, to the music of the band on shore playing Yankee Doodle.
It was now clear that American success on the Northern and Niagara frontiers could be secured only with absolute control of Lake Ontario. On the 31st of August Com. Isaac Chauncey was detailed for the special service of constructing a navy on Lakes Ontario and Erie, and during the fore part of September had a body of ship carpenters at work at Sackett's Harbor. Lieutenant Woolsey was ordered to purchase a number of merchant vessels, which he did. In the second week of November Chauncey, with the Oneida and six small vessels, sailed on an expedition to intercept the British squadron which was returning from Fort George on the Niagara River to Kingston. He encountered the enemy and chased him into Kingston harbor, where he engaged him and five land batteries.1 In December lake navigation was closed by ice.
In the mean time important events were taking place on the Niagara frontier. It was a thinly settled region at that time. Buffalo was only a small village, near which a sluggish stream, bordered with trees and thick undergrowth, flowed deviously to the bar over which only the
1 In this short cruise Commodore Chauncey captured three merchant vessels, destroyed one armed schooner, and disabled the British flag-ship, and took several prisoners, with a loss on his part of only one man killed and four wounded .- Lossing's Field Book of the War of 1812, p. 372.
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smallest vessels could pass. Near at hand dwelt about 700 Seneca In- dians. Black Rock competed with Buffalo in importance, while imme- diately opposite Fort Erie menaced the Americans. On Ellicott's Creek, eight or nine miles farther north, was the hamlet of Williams- ville. At the beginning of the rapids that extend to the great cataract were the remains of old Fort Schlosser, opposite which was the village of Chippewa. Farther down the river was the hamlet at the falls, with Lewiston seven miles beyond and Queenston with its rugged heights opposite. At the mouth of the Niagara frowned Fort Niagara, the scene of many former military operations, and not far away the small village of Youngstown. Opposite on the Canada side were Fort George and the village of Newark (now Niagara).
Such was the Niagara frontier in 1812 when Major-Gen. Stephen Van Rensselaer, in command of the detached militia of New York State, arrived at Fort Niagara on August 13.
On the 12th of February, 1812, Henry Dearborn, who had served in the Revolution, had been commissioned first major-general and placed in command of the Northern Department; in June he was instructed to so engage the attention of the British by demonstrations on the frontier as to prevent them from sparing troops for Detroit. On Au- gust 8 he wrote to the secretary of war: "Till now I did not consider the Niagara frontier as coming within the limits of my command," and on the next day signed an armistice with Sir George Prevost suspending hostilities for an unspecified period.
About the 1st of September, 1812, a public meeting was held in the court house, Buffalo, the proceedings of which were thus described in the Gazette of the 8th of that month :
COUNTY MEETING .- A meeting of many citizens of Niagara county was held pur- suant to public notice, at the Court House, in Buffalo, on Thursday last; Gen. T. S. Hopkins, Chairman, Richard Smith, Esq,, Clerk. . . A committee of five was appointed to address the Governor on the present critical situation on the frontiers, to acquaint him with the great deficiency of arms and ammunition, and pray relief, and a general committee of safety was appointed to give all necessary information of approaching danger, and also to prevent all unnecessary alarm from the thousand rumors and falsehoods that are constantly afloat.
On the 29th of the same month appeared the following :
About one hundred and forty warriors of the Seneca Nation of Indians from Alleghany river arrived in town last week and are encamped near the village. More are expected from different parts. . They voluntarily offered to take up arms
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for defensive operations. Yesterday they performed a war dance in the streets of the village.
The condition of Niagara at this time was pitiable. General Van Rensselaer had been promised 5,000 men, but on September 1 his total force on the whole Niagara frontier was 690. When General Brock, after the surrender of Hull on the 16th of August, was enabled through the existence of the armistice to leisurely march his troops and prison- ers to Niagara, he confronted General Van Rensselaer with an army, not large, but well prepared for active work, while along the river from lake to lake, on the Canada side, every important point had been strengthened.
Dearborn had received peremptory orders from the War Department to end the armistice, which he finally did on the 29th of August; but the order did not reach Niagara until September 12. However, as the terms of the armistice left the navigation of Lake Ontario open to both Americans and British, the former were enabled to forward ordnance and munitions from Oswego to strengthen Niagara and to clothe and feed the then destitute troops.
About the middle of September Van Rensselaer sent to Governor Tompkins and General Dearborn for reinforcements, explaining fully his precarious situation. Late in that month detachments of regulars and bodies of militia began to concentrate on the Niagara line. The regulars halted at Buffalo, and were under command of Brig .- Gen. Alexander Smyth; 1 and the militia assembled at Lewiston, and were commanded by Major-Gen. Amos Hall.
General Van Rensselaer was to concentrate the regulars near Niag- ara, where they were to cross, and, securing a position in the rear of Fort George, take it by storm; at the same time the militia were to be gathered at Lewiston, under Van Rensselaer's personal command, whence he would cross and carry the heights of Queenston. The plans were carefully made, but through the dilatoriness, if not crim- inal disobedience, of General Smyth, it was well on in October before Van Rensselaer felt safe in undertaking offensive operations. In the mean time one of the most brilliant and daring exploits of the war was enacted near Buffalo. Lieut. J. B. Elliott, of the United States navy,
1 Gen. Alexander Smyth was a proud Virginian, an officer of the regular army (inspector- general) and an aspirant for the chief command on the frontier. Unlike the true soldier and patriot, he could not bend to the necessity of obedience to a militia general, especially one of northern birth and a leading Federalist, who, for the time, was made his superior in rank and position .- Lossing.
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had been ordered to report to General Van Rensselaer to consult with him concerning the building of a fleet to operate on Lake Erie. Elliott was young, only twenty-seven, but a patriot full of zeal and bravery. He had, with the concurrence of General Van Rensselaer, selected Black Rock as the point at which to establish his embryo navy yard, and while occupied there the young lieutenant learned that two vessels of the enemy, armed for war, had arrived and anchored off Fort Erie on the opposite side of the river. They were the Detroit and the Caledonia, the former the brig Adams, taken at Hull's surrender; the latter the property of the Northwestern Fur Company, and reported as having on board a valuable cargo of furs. Elliott immediately laid plans for the capture of these vessels, and fortunately for his purpose a detachment of seamen arrived on the day his plans were laid-the 8th of October (1812). Lieut. Winfield Scott was in command at Black Rock and detailed an engineer with fifty men to aid in the under- taking, to which force were added a number of citizens, all armed by Scott's orders. The total force numbered 124 men. The expedition left the eastern shore at midnight, and at three o'clock both vessels were taken and their crews made prisoners. In his report to the secre- tary of the navy Elliott said :
In less than ten minutes I had the prisoners all seized, the topsails were sheeted home, and the vessels under way.
The wind being too light to enable the vessels to stem the rapid cur- rent and get out of reach of the guns of Fort Erie, the Detroit came to anchor and for a time kept up a lively artillery duel with the fort; but after the failure of various efforts to remove her from the fire of the enemy, Elliott, seeing that her destruction was probable, cut his cable and set her adrift; she grounded on the west side of Squaw Island, where, after the removal of the prisoners, she was boarded by a party of British from Fort Erie, who, in turn, were driven off by a few citizen-soldiers of Buffalo, with the aid of a six-pounder and a few charges of canister shot. All day the contending parties fought over the prize, and finally on the approach of Sir Isaac Brock with the Lady Prevost and a strong crew, she was set on fire by a party of United States infantry and burned. The Caledonia was saved and after- wards did service under Perry on Lake Erie; she proved a rich prize, as her cargo was valued at $200,000 Elliott in his report specially com- mended for gallantry in this affair not only the officers under him, but
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Captain Chapin and Messrs. John Macomb, John Town, Thomas Dain, Peter Overstocks and James Sloan, citizens of Buffalo.
The first shot fired from the British batteries killed Maj. William Howe Cuyler, of Palmyra, who was on General Hall's staff, as he was riding along the river road in the early morning. This was the first death caused by the war within the limits of the present Erie county. Some of the British cannon balls passed through buildings in Black Rock and Mrs. Benjamin Bidwell1 relates that herself and husband were driven from their own house that morning and started for her sister's residence to seek shelter in her cellar. While on their way a cannon ball passed so near them that the rush of the air prostrated a little girl they were leading. They then fled to the woods where they found other families. While Mrs. Bidwell was cooking a late break- fast in the forest, another cannon ball struck the fire and scattered the food in all directions. They now determined to get out of range of the British force and made their way to Cold Spring.
Elliott's daring move had an exhilarating effect throughout the States, and a correspondingly depressing one upon the British, Sir Isaac Brock expressing himself concerning it as follows:
The event is particularly unfortunate, and may reduce us to incalculable distress. The enemy is making every exertion to gain a naval superiority on both lakes, which, if they accomplish it, I do not see how we can possibly retain the country.2
In connection with the history of this event the Gazette of October 20 had the following :
On Monday of last week the British came over to Squaw Island and captured two American boats, one of which was loaded with cannon balls. On the same day while a boat was passing down the river from Black Rock to Schlosser, loaded with flour and whisky, the British opened their batteries upon the boat and fired upwards of thirty rounds of grape shot at her while passing from Squaw Island to the head of Grand Island, most of which struck the sails or some part of the boat. There were about thirty men on board the boat, and only one was wounded. This was Thomas Morgan. On Tuesday last the British batteries below Fort Erie opened a very heavy fire upon the fortifications and village of Black Rock.
But few shots were returned from our batteries, having there no larger cali bre than field-sixes at the breastworks. Two shots, in the morning, pierced the house of Orange Dean, which did little damage besides bilging a barrel of old Pitts- burgh whisky in Dean's cellar, belonging to Peter H. Colt. Several cannon shot struck the battery, and two or three passed through the upper loft of the west bar- racks. A bomb thrown from a twenty-four pounder struck the east barracks and
1 Mrs. Bidwell's reminiscences in archives of the Buffalo Historical Society."
2 Letter of General Brock to Sir George Prevost, October 11, 1812.
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destroyed them; it entered and burst neat a cask of powder which blew up. Sev- eral stands of arms, two boxes of fixed ammunition, and some property of the sol- diers was destroyed; a quantity of skins, a part of the cargo of the Caledonia, were much injured. The event caused much shouting among the British, Several shots passed through Sills's store. A twenty four pounder struck the upper loft of the stone house of Gen. Porter, while the General and his friends were at dinner. . Another ball passed through the roof. Several other houses were injured.
After bearing with the insolent and dictatorial conduct of General Smyth until the impatience of the troops gave signs of mutiny, Gen- eral Van Rensselaer, on the 10th of October, 1812, prepared to attack the enemy at Queenston. His force consisted of about 3,650 regulars and 2,650 militia, divided between Niagara, Lewiston and Black Rock, while that of the enemy was in the neighborhood of 1,500, besides 250 Indians under John Brant. The British force was well disposed, and batteries were in position at every available point; on the heights south of Queenston were planted guns which commanded the landings at both Queenston and Lewiston. Col. Solomon Van Rensselaer was in command of the invading force, which, it was planned, was to make the assault on Queenston at three o'clock on the morning of the 11th of October. By midnight thirteen boats were in readiness to transport the attacking force, boatmen accustomed to the eddies and current of the river having been procured and placed under command of Lieu- tenant Sims. At the hour appointed the troops assembled at the place of embarkation under the lead of Van Rensselaer. Lieutenant Sims boarded the first boat and immediately rowed away in the darkness, preventing the other boats from starting, as all the oars for the expe- dition were stored in his boat. It was supposed that he would imme- diately discover this fact and return; on the contrary, he passed a long distance beyond the point selected for crossing, landed and fled from the scene at his utmost speed-a traitor or a coward. Of course this unexplainable action of Sims caused the abandonment of Van Rensse- laer's plans for the time being, but it so incensed the troops that they would hear of no delay and demanded to be led across the river. Van Rensselaer was cheered by the arrival of 350 regulars, and renewed his preparations for the attack.
At three o'clock on the morning of the 13th of October, the crossing of the river was effected, and the heights were stormed by the regulars under Capt. John E. Wool. Pushing gallantly up the hill he drove the British back to the plateau on which the village stands and finally gained possession of Queenston Heights. Col. Solomon Van Rensse-
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laer followed with his command, but was soon so severely wounded that he was forced to return to Lewiston. In the mean time Wool received a bullet through the flesh of both his thighs, but he refused to give up his command until the arrival of his senior, Lieutenant-Colonel Chrys- tie, about 9 o'clock. When the firing began, Gen. Sir Isaac Brock was at Fort George, seven miles down the river. Accompanied by his staff he hastened to the battlefield, passed up the Heights to a redan battery, where they dismounted, when Wool and his men suddenly came upon them. Brock fled and the American flag soon waved over the battery. Brock now placed himself at the head of a body of troops to drive Wool from the Heights, and the Americans were pressed back by the superior force to the verge of the precipice which rises 200 feet above the river. At this critical moment, inspired by Wool's cheering words and per- sonal heroism, they turned with fury upon the British, who broke and fled down the hill. There they were rallied by Brock and were about to march on the reascent, when their commander was mortally wounded. Wool was now left in command of the Heights until the arrival of Gen. William Wadsworth, of the New York militia, who took command. General Roger Hale Sheaffe succeeded Brock and again rallied the British troops. Lieut .. Col. Scott had crossed the river and joined the Americans on the Heights as a volunteer, and at Wadsworth's request assumed active command. Success had thus far attended the Ameri cans. Early in the afternoon a band of Indians led by John Brant (son of the great chief) fell upon the American pickets with savage fury. The militia turned to flee, when they were checked by the trumpet-tones and towering form of Scott. The whole body (about 600) under him heroically attacked the Indians and drove them into the forest.
General Van Rensselaer, who had crossed from Lewiston, now hast- ened back to forward militia reinforcements. Of the 1,000 (approxi- mately) who had crossed in the morning, only comparatively few had engaged in the battle; the others now refused to go, their puerile reason being that they were not compelled to leave the soil of their own country. They remained idle at Lewiston while their comrades were being slaughtered. In the mean time overwhelming numbers under General Sheaffe were thrown against the Americans and they were compelled to surrender. The loss of the Americans in killed and wounded was about 190, and 900 were made prisoners. The latter were marched to Newark. The militia, officers and privates, were there paroled and
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sent across the river, but the regulars taken were detained for exchange, sent to Quebec and thence to Boston. The loss of the British in killed, wounded and prisoners was about 130.
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