The
Battle of Queenston Heights was a British
victory during the War of 1812
which took place on October 13,
1812, near Queenston,
Ontario. It was fought between New York militia forces led by Major
General Stephen Van Rensselaer, and British forces led by Major
General Sir Isaac Brock and Major
General Sir Roger Hale Sheaffe. The battle, the largest in the war to that
point, was fought as the result of an American attempt to establish a foothold
on the Canadian side of the Niagara
River before campaigning ended with the onset of winter. This decisive battle
was the result of a poorly managed campaign, and is most historically significant
for the fact that in it, the British lost their commander, General Brock, who
was killed by an unknown shooter. Despite
their theoretical numerical advantage and the wide dispersal of British forces
against an invasion attempt, the Americans, who were stationed in Lewiston,
New York, were unable to get the bulk of their invasion force across the Niagara
River due to the work of British artillery and reluctance on the part of the undertrained
and inexperienced American militia. As a result, British reinforcements were able
to arrive and force those Americans on the Canadian side to surrender. BackgroundThe
United States invasion across the Niagara River was originally intended to be
part of a three-pronged attack on Upper
Canada's border strongpoints. General William
Hull would attack Amherstburg
through Detroit,
General Henry Dearborn
would cross the St.
Lawrence River to take Kingston,
and General Van Rensselaer would attack Queenston. The attacks, coupled with a
fourth assault on Montreal
in Lower Canada, would theoretically
bring the colony to its knees and ensure a quick peace. However,
the three attacks on Upper Canada were not effective. Hull was besieged in Detroit
and, faced with the threat of a massacre by Britain's Native
American allies, surrendered the city and his entire army at the Battle
of Detroit. Dearborn and his army were remaining, relatively inactive, at
Albany, and seemed
to be in no hurry to attempt an invasion. (Dearborn would be replaced in 1813
with only minor successes to his credit). Van Rensselaer, meanwhile, was under
considerable pressure to attempt his part of the invasion, both from his own men
eager for battle and from an American public chafing under the disgrace of Hull's
surrender. Although
he held the rank of Major General in the New York state militia, Van Rensselaer
had never commanded troops in battle, and was in fact considered the leading Federalist
candidate for the governorship
of New York. Possibly hoping to get Van Rensselaer out of the way, New York
governor Daniel Tompkins
put Van Rensselaer's name forward to command the American army, and he officially
took command July 13, 1812.
Stephen Van Rensselaer did secure the appointment of experienced soldier Colonel
Solomon
Van Rensselaer (the General's second cousin) as his aide-de-camp,
giving the General a valuable source of experienced advice. American
internal quarrels Even
with Hull's failure and Dearborn's inaction, Van Rensselaer's position appeared
strong. While on September 1
he had only 691 unpaid men fit for duty, the arrival of reinforcements soon boosted
his force considerably. In addition to his own force of around six thousand regulars,
volunteers, and militia, Van Rensselaer had Brigadier General Alexander
Smyth's force of 1,700 regular soldiers under his command. However, Smyth,
a regular officer himself, steadfastly refused to obey Van Rensselaer's orders
or respond to his summons. As soon as his force reached the frontier, Smyth took
it upon himself to deploy his force near Buffalo
rather than with the main army at Lewiston.
He also did not report to Van Rensselaer when he arrived, claiming he was "too
busy". Van
Rensselaer laid a plan for the main force to cross the Niagara and take the heights
near Queenston while Smyth attacked Fort
George from the rear. However, Smyth made no reply to Van Rensselaer's plan.
When summoned to a council of officers to plan the attack, Smyth did not respond,
nor did he reply to a letter sent soon after. A direct order to arrive "with all
possible dispatch" was also met with silence. Van Rensselaer, an amiable politician
in a hurry to launch his attack, simply chose to proceed without Smyth rather
than court-martial him
and possibly delay the start of the battle. On
October 10, Van Rensselaer sent
orders to Smyth to march his brigade to Lewiston in preparation for the attack
"with every possible dispatch." The attack had been planned for Sunday, October
11 at 3 a.m., and Smyth set out upon receipt of the letter; however, he chose
a bad route to Lewiston, in foul weather, on a road so bad that abandoned wagons
could be seen "sticking in the road." At 10 a.m. on October
11, orders reached Smyth that the attack had been postponed. Smyth then turned
back to his camp at Black
Rock rather than press on to Lewiston, expressing in a letter to Van Rensselaer
written on October 12 that his
troops would be in condition to move out again on October
14, a day after the postponed attack was to be launched. The
October 11 attack was delayed
because of a defection in Van Rensselaer's army. Over the previous few days, Colonel
Van Rensselaer had been able to cross over to the British side under the escort
of Brock's aide Lieutenant-Colonel John
Macdonell, and as such had a fairly good idea of the lay of the land. Although
Colonel Van Rensselaer was stricken down with fever, General Van Rensselaer resolved
to launch the attack on October
11. However, with the American army formed up to cross in the early morning,
one of the lead boatmen, a Lieutenant Sims rowed his boat away and abandoned the
army, taking with him most of the oars that were to be used for the crossing.
By the time the oars could be replaced, the attack had to be set back. General
Van Rensselaer set the second attempt for October 13. British
preparation Isaac
Brock was the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada and commander of the forces
there. He was an aggressive commander, and his successful capture of Detroit had
won him praise, the reputation as the "saviour of Upper Canada", and a knighthood
which would only reach Upper Canada after his death. However, his superior at
Quebec,
Sir George Prevost,
was of a more cautious bent, and the two clashed over strategy. It
was Brock's intention to attack the United States again, crossing the Niagara,
defeating Van Rensselaer and Smyth before they could be reinforced, and occupying
upper New York State
for the British. Prevost vetoed this plan, ordering Brock to behave more defensively.
(Prevost was aware that the British Government had revoked several Orders
in Council which affected American merchant ships, and thus removed some of
the stated causes of the war. He may have believed that peace negotiations might
result, and would not wish to prejudice any talks by taking offensive action.)
Brock's one aggressive action was to facilitate the siege
of Fort
Wayne on the Maumee River,
which ended in a defeat of the Native attackers. Particularly
galling to Brock was an armistice
concluded by Major General Roger Sheaffe, under Prevost's orders, with Colonel
Van Rensselaer on August 20. The
terms of the armistice permitted the use of the river by both powers as a common
waterway, and Brock could only watch as American reinforcements and supplies were
moved to Van Rensselaer's army without being able to take action. The armistice
ended on September 8, by which
time Van Rensselaer's army was considerably better supplied than it had been before. On
October 12, the day before the
battle, by Brock's orders, Major Thomas Evans crossed the Niagara River under
a flag of truce to request an immediate exchange of prisoners taken in a successful
American raid on two British ships near Fort
Erie a few days before. Evans attempted to see Solomon Van Rensselaer, but
was told that the Colonel was ill. Evans was met by a man who claimed to be General
Stephen Van Rensselaer's secretary, Toock. Toock was probably Major John Lovett
in disguise and repeatedly stated that no exchange could be arranged until "the
day after tomorrow". Evans was struck by the repetition of this phrase and was
able to spot several boats hidden by the shore under some brush. Evans deduced
that an invasion was planned for October
13, and upon returning to the British lines he was met with laughter and mockery
from a council of officers. However, Brock took Evans aside and after a meeting
was convinced of the possibility. Battle On
October 13, Brock was at Fort
George with Sheaffe and his main force. There were other British detachments
at Queenston, Chippawa, and Fort Erie. The
village of Queenston lay at the mouth of the gorge of the River Niagara, which
was fast-flowing and 200 yards wide. Immediately south of the village, the ground
rose 300 feet (100 m) to Queenston Heights. Lewiston was on the other side of
the river, with the ground to its south rising to Lewiston Heights. In time of
peace, there was a regular boat service between Queenston and Lewiston. The
British detachment at Queenston consisted of the grenadier company of the 49th
Regiment of Foot (formerly Brock's own) under Captain James Dennis, the light
company of the 49th under Captain John Williams, a flank company of the 2nd York
Militia (the "York Volunteers") and a detachment of the 41st
Foot with a 3-pounder Grasshopper
cannon. An 18-pounder gun was mounted in a redan
halfway up the Heights, and a 24-pounder gun and a carronade were sited in a barbette
at Vrooman's Point,
a mile north of the village. The local militia, companies from the 5th Lincoln
Regiment, were not on duty but could assemble at very short notice. The
American forces involved were the 6th, 13th and 23rd U.S. Infantry, with detachments
of U.S. Artillery serving as infantry. There were also five regiments of New York
Militia and a volunteer battalion of riflemen. Because the United States Army
was being rapidly expanded, most of the regulars at Lewiston were recent recruits,
and Van Rensselaer considered the Militiamens' drill and discipline was superior
to that of the regulars. The Americans had twelve boats, each of which could carry
thirty men, and two large boats which could carry eighty men and which were fitted
with platforms on which field guns or wagons could be carried. A
last-minute squabble over seniority and precedence led to the command of the first
landing party being split. Colonel Solomon Van Rensselaer led the militia contingent,
Lieutenant Colonel John Chrystie
led the regulars. The
Americans began crossing the river at 3 a.m. on October
13. Ten minutes after they began crossing, ten boats under Colonel Solomon
van Rensselaer began landing at the village. A sentry noticed them and, rather
than fire his musket to raise the alarm and thus warn the American troops that
they had been spotted, ran to Dennis's headquarters. A few minutes later, Dennis's
troops fired a volley into the Americans as they were still coming ashore. Colonel
Van Rensselaer was hit by a musketball as soon as he stepped out of his boat on
the Canadian shore. As he tried to form up his troops, he was promptly hit five
more times, and—though he survived—he spent most of the battle out of action,
weak from loss of blood. Captain John
E. Wool of the 13th U.S. Infantry took over and fought to retain the American
foothold in Queenston. Meanwhile,
the British guns opened fire in the direction of the American landing stage at
Lewiston, and the American guns (two 18-pounders in an earthwork named "Fort Grey"
on Lewiston Heights, and two 6-pounder field guns near the landing stage) opened
fire on Queenston village. Dennis's troops were driven back into the village but
kept firing from the shelter of the houses. As
the light grew, the British guns became more accurate. Calamity for the Americans
ensued as the crews of three of their boats, including their two largest—one of
which was carrying Lieutenant-Colonel Chrystie—panicked as they came under fire.
Chrystie's pilot turned the boat back for shore, despite the efforts of Chrystie
to restrain him. This later caused controversy when Captain Lawrence, commanding
the next boat following, asserted that Chrystie had ordered him to retreat, leading
to accusations of cowardice. Much
of the second assault wave, led by Lieutenant-Colonel John
Fenwick, was either shot out of the water by the British cannon
or drifted downstream and was forced to land in a hollow where British troops
quickly surrounded them and forced the survivors to surrender. Death
of Isaac Brock At
Fort George, Brock had been awoken by the noise of the artillery at Queenston.
As he considered this might only have been a diversion, he ordered only a few
detachments to move to Queenston but galloped there himself, accompanied by only
a few aides. He passed through the village as dawn broke and moved up to the redan
to gain a better view. Meanwhile,
American Captain Wool, seeing that the British cannon in the redan was causing
great carnage amongst the American boats but that it had very few troops guarding
it, suggested to Colonel Van Rensselaer that an attack be made using a fisherman's
path that Wool had heard about from locals in the area. Van Rensselaer, about
to be evacuated because of his wounds, assented, and Wool successfully moved along
the river bank and then up to the summit of the heights. They attacked just as
Brock arrived. Brock's small party and the artillerymen were forced to flee into
the village, managing only to quickly spike the gun. Brock sent a message to Major
General Sheaffe at Fort George, ordering him to bring as many troops as possible
to Queenston. He then resolved to recapture the redan immediately rather than
wait for reinforcements. Brock's
first charge was made by Dennis's and Williams's two companies of the 49th and
two companies of militia. They nearly managed to dislodge Captain Wool and his
men, but a swift counter-strike pushed Brock back again. Brock, having been wounded
in the hand during the first charge, ordered his aide to "Push on the York Volunteers".
He then led a second assault on Wool. His bright red coat with its gold lace and
epaulettes (and a gaudy scarf given him by Tecumseh)
and his tall figure and energetic gestures made him a conspicuous target, and
he was killed by a US sharpshooter. Brock's aide, Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell,
led another charge despite being a lawyer by trade with little military experience.
Wool had been reinforced with more troops which had just made their way up the
path to the top of the Heights, and Macdonell was now outnumbered. His attack
failed, and he was mortally wounded, Captain Williams was badly injured, and Dennis
was slightly injured. Carrying the bodies of Brock and Macdonell, the British
fell back through Queenston to Durham's Farm a mile north. According
to legend, Brock's last words were "Push on, brave York Volunteers", but this
is very unlikely, since Brock was not with them when he fell. According to historian
J. Mackay Hitsman, Brock's earlier command to push on the York Volunteers, who
had just arrived from Queenston, was transformed into the later legend. Sheaffe's
attack By
10 a.m., the Americans were opposed only by the 24-pounder at Vrooman's Point
which was firing at the American boats at very long range. The Americans were
able to push several hundred fresh troops and a 6-pounder field gun across the
river. They unspiked the 18-pounder in the Redan and used it to fire into Queenston
village, but it had a limited field of fire away from the river. Colonel Chrystie
briefly took charge of the troops on the Canadian side but returned to collect
reinforcements and entrenching tools. At noon, General van Rensselaer crossed.
He and Chrystie ordered the position on Queenston Heights to be fortified before
they returned to the American side of the river. Colonel
Winfield Scott (who
later became one of the most highly regarded generals in American history) now
took command of the regulars on Queenston Heights, and Brigadier General William
Wadsworth, who waived his right to overall command, took charge of the militia.
There were few complete formed units; there was only a collection of unorganised
detachments, some without their officers. Likewise some officers had crossed but
their men had not followed them. Little more than a thousand of General Van Rensselaer's
men had crossed the Niagara River, and the militia, which knew nothing of the
death of Brock or the silencing of most of the large British cannon, refused to
cross in the few boats that remained. Meanwhile,
British reinforcements had begun to arrive from Fort George. A detachment of the
Royal Artillery under
Captain Holcroft with two 6-pounder guns moved into Queenston village, supported
by a company of the 41st under Captain Derenzy. Militia Captain Archibald Hamilton
guided them to a firing position in the courtyard of his own house. When they
opened fire at 1 p.m., it once again became hazardous for the American boats to
attempt to cross the river. At
the same time, Mohawks
under Captains John
Norton and John
Brant climbed up to the top of the heights and suddenly fell on Scott's outposts.
None were killed, and the Mohawks were driven back into some woods, but the Americans'
spirits were badly affected by their fear of the natives. Warcries could be clearly
heard in Lewiston. General Van Rensselaer was unable to cajole any more of the
militia into crossing the river. He then tried to induce the civilian boatmen
to cross the river and retrieve his soldiers from Canada, but they refused even
that. Major
General Roger Sheaffe arrived at Queenston at 2 p.m. and took charge of the British
troops. He ordered yet more reinforcements to join him, and when they had done
so, he led his force on a three mile (5 km) detour to the Heights, shielding them
from the American artillery. Here, he was joined by another column of reinforcements
from Chippawa. In all, he commanded over 800 men. In addition to the remnants
of the force which had been engaged under Brock in the morning, he had five companies
of the 41st and seven of Militia (including Runchey's
Company of Coloured Men), with two 3-pounder guns. Sheaffe
took his time forming his men up and preparing them for battle and attacked at
4 p.m., thirteen hours after Van Rensselaer launched his assault. The American
militia, hearing war-cries from the Mohawks and believing themselves doomed, retreated
en masse and without orders, leaving Colonel Scott with only three hundred
stout defenders to resist the British force. Scott tried to cover the American
withdrawal against Sheaffe's larger force, but with no boats arriving to evacuate
his men and with the Mohawks furious over the deaths of two chiefs, he feared
a massacre and surrendered to the British. Even so, excited Indians continued
to fire from the heights into the crowd of Americans on the river bank below for
several minutes. Once the surrender was made, Scott was shocked to see five hundred
U.S. militiamen, who had been hiding around the heights, coming out and surrendering
as well. Aftermath Of
General Van Rensselaer's 6,000 troops, about 100 were killed and 300 wounded and
another 925 taken prisoner, including Brigadier General Wadsworth, Colonel Scott,
four other lieutenant-colonels and sixty-seven other officers. The British also
captured a 6-pounder gun and the colours of a New York Militia regiment. The British
suffered fourteen men killed, with seventy-seven wounded including James Secord,
husband of Laura Secord. General
Van Rensselaer, his attack a dismal failure, resigned immediately after the battle
and was succeeded as senior officer on the Niagara by Alexander Smyth, the officer
whose insolence had badly injured the invasion attempt. Smyth still had his regulars
at Buffalo but refused to launch an attack until he had three thousand men under
his command. He then bungled two attempts to cross the river near Fort Erie and
drew the loathing of his soldiers. Universally castigated for his refusal to attack
and with rumours of mutiny in the air, Smyth slipped away to his home in Virginia
rather than remain at his post. At
Albany, the defeat of Van Rensselaer only increased Henry Dearborn's reluctance
to act. With two armies already defeated, Dearborn was not keen on leading the
third. He led a half-hearted advance as far as Odelltown,
where his militia refused to proceed further, and then he retired. As a result,
Van Rensselaer's army was the only one to launch a significant assault on Upper
Canada in 1812. The
question of who to blame for the defeat was one that was never resolved. Stephen
Van Rensselaer's popularity remained high enough that he was able to launch an
(unsuccessful) attempt to unseat Daniel Tompkins as Governor of New York, and
he later went on to serve in the United
States House of Representatives. General John
Armstrong, Jr., the Secretary
of War for much of the war, pinned the blame on General Van Rensselaer in
his Notices of the War of 1812. This provoked an indignant response from
Solomon Van Rensselaer, who compared Armstrong to Benedict
Arnold and laid the blame squarely on Lieutenant-Colonel Chrystie, who he
accused of cowardice and said "to his failure may mainly be attributed all our
disasters." The
loss of General Brock was nevertheless a major blow to the British. Brock had
inspired his own troops and the militia and civilians by his confidence and activity.
Sheaffe, his successor, received a baronetcy for his part in the victory but could
not command the same respect. Although his retreat the next year from a numerically
superior force at the Battle
of York was militarily correct, it left the local militia, the Assembly and
the population of York feeling abandoned and aggrieved. He was relieved of his
appointments in Upper Canada. References External
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