First Edition Published
November 29, 2015
Second Edition
Published December 5, 2016
Third
Edition Published March 5, 2019
Copyright
by Fred Blair
Changes
and additions to this edition are in blue text.
June 1, 1813
On the Niagara
Frontier
As the British forces
retreated from Fort George, they encamped on the farm of Lieutenant Colonel Richard
Beasley on Burlington Heights, where they remained until June 6th, when
the decision was made to attack the Americans encamped at Stoney Creek. The British were successful in turning back
the Americans. As the location was could
be easily defended, was close to the Niagara Frontier, and goods could be
unloaded from ships on Lake Ontario below the heights, the British decided to
establish a supply depot for the Frontier on the Beasley farm.
Richard Beasley lost the use of his farm
until September 1, 1815 and suffered additional losses throughout the war. He made a total of eight separate war claims,
seven for losses to the British and one for losses to the Americans. His itemized list for the loss of the use of
his farm and damages included the digging of trenches, the construction of
batteries, the loss of his timber, orchard, garden, crops in the field, and harvested grain and hay in his barn, the
loss of livestock, the loss of his calash and wagon with harnesses, the loss of
his fence rails, the loss of tools, the rent for the use of his land and
buildings, the cost of the rent he paid to live elsewhere, the damages to his buildings, and the
destruction of his shed and stable.[1]
Richard Beasley made another lengthy claim
for goods captured by the Americans on Lake Ontario on September 6, 1814.
After the war, Joseph Cline, a yeoman of Grimsby Township claimed for his
loss of two thousand feet of pine boards which were pending delivery from
William Crooks’ sawmill. The boards were
carried into a field near the mill where the American army was encamped.[2]
June 2, 1813
An American brigade
forced the dragoons back to the 40 Mile Creek.
Captain Merritt fell back to the British post at Stoney Creek.[3]
June 3, 1813
When the Americans
reached the Forty Mile Creek they entered Henry Nelles’ Distillery there and
destroyed whiskey and chopped stuff which belonged to John Groat, a distiller
of Clinton Township. In 1815, John
claimed fifteen pounds for his loss.[4]
Jacob
Cline was thirteen years old when he witnessed the Americans encamp at the
Forty Mile Creek. His Loyalist family
had arrived in Upper Canada in 1799 and Jacob was born in February, 1800. His father was Jacob Cline Sr.
From his sister’s
house, Jacob watched about two thousand Americans arrive and noted that they
looked “lean and hungry.” Jacob reported
that they camped there for “over a week”, but as they arrived there in early in
June and were encamped at Stoney Creek on the fifth, this seems unlikely. Jacob spent most of his time in the American
camp admiring the guns, the cavalry, and officer’s uniforms. When he was told that he would soon be part
of the “Yankee government”, Jacob replied, “I’m not so sure about that.” The American general asked Jacob if the Indigenous
warriors were “lurking” on the mountain.[5]
In England
A log book entry from
the sloop HMS Brazen indicated that it was off Blacktail Beacon at the mouth of
the Thames River, England. It was
escorting two Hudson Bay ships across the Atlantic Ocean and through the Arctic
to Churchill, Manitoba. One ship held
Selkirk settlers destined for Lake Winnipeg in the area that would later become
part of the City of Winnipeg.[6]
June 4, 1813
It was King George’s birthday.
On the
Niagara Frontier
Jacob
Cline reported that seven dragoons were sent on a scouting party to Stoney
Creek but soon returned “in a great fright” with one horse without a
rider. Jacob noted that there were blood
stains on the saddle and mane. The
dragoons reported that they had been fired upon by a party of Indigenous
warriors and that their companion had been shot “through the body” and fell
from his horse after a short distance.
Jacob recalled that this had happened on the road at a carpenter’s farm.
Jacob reported that the
Americans left their tents standing at the Forty Mile Creek when they marched
to Stoney Creek about noon the next day.[7]
Eleven-year old Daniel
Barber was driving a flock of sheep to his father’s home at the Fifty Mile
Creek when he was passed by ten American dragoons heading east back to their
camp. As soon as the dragoons had passed
him, Captain John Norton came out of the woods behind Daniel with about a dozen
warriors and opened fire on the dragoons.
The dragoons exchanged fire with the warriors and then rode on. Daniel did not mention how he survived in the
middle of this exchange. When Daniel herded
the sheep further down the road, he found a dead dragoon at the side of the
road.[8]
June 5, 1813
The Americans
Encamped at Stoney Creek
Daniel Barber had just
arrived at his father’s house with his flock of sheep when he saw the Americans
on the road behind him and ran to tell his father. His father, Matthias, had recently returned
from the British lines at Burlington Heights and feared that the Americans
might take him prisoner. He jumped out
of the back window and ran off as the Americans fired after him.[9]
William and Levi Green
and Samuel Lee, walked through the woods and kept pace with the Americans army
as it marched from Forty Mile Creek to Stoney Creek. They whooped and yelled at the soldiers and
at one point the three men had to run from musket fire.[10]
William Davis, of
Saltfleet Township, reported that the there was a skirmish when the Americans
encountered a British piquet at his house.
The Americans tore down his fencing and attacked through his corn field.[11]
The engagement was just east of Davis’
tavern, the Red Hill House, on Big Creek.
After the Battle of Stoney Creek, the wounded were treated in his
tavern.[12]
William Davis Sr. was a
Loyalist from North Carolina and his son, William Jr., served as a lieutenant
in the 5th Lincoln Militia and had been at the Battle of Queenston
in 1812.
Dragoon John Brady
encountered the American advance just east of Stoney Creek and escaped by
riding up a deer trail to the top of the escarpment.[13]
Billy Green and his
brother Levi had gone to their sister’s, Mrs. Annie Muir, for dinner. While there on the top of Grimsby Mountain,
they saw the American army marching to Stoney Creek. They took the mountain top road to the creek
to warn the families there that the Americans were approaching.[14]
Isaac Corman of Stoney
Creek was setting posts for a sluice-way near the road when the American army
came up the road. An American officer
asked him several questions about the British and their native allies to which
he replied that he did not know the answer.
When the officer drew his sword and threatened him, Isaac told him that
he was not a gentleman. The officer
arrested Isaac.[15]
The American army
stopped briefly at John Brady’s Inn at Stoney Creek. After eating all of the food that they could
find and draining the town water pump, they marched just outside the village
and encamped on the Gage homestead.[16]
The Americans took
possession of the King’s Head Inn on Burlington Beach which the British had
used as a Government House. They dumped
barrels of flour, pork, and other provisions stored there into the creek. Mrs. Lottridge fled into the woods with her
children. Mr. Lottridge was at that time
serving with the British. An American
detachment camped at the inn while waiting for men and supplies to arrive by boat
but as the boats did not arrive and they had to march back to the Gage house,
where the American commissariat was, and spend the night there.[17]
Isaac Corman was held
by the American detachment on Burlington Beach.
He claimed to have been a first cousin of General Harrison who commanded
the American forces in the west. The Americans
gave him permission to return home and the password so that he could get pass
the American picket lines. Mrs. Corman
had sent her brother Billy Green out to look for her missing husband and he
found Isaac while he was walking home from the beach.[18]
Isaac Corman gave Billy
Green the American password. Billy
returned home on the mountain, borrowed Levi’s horse, and took a circuitous
route to the British encampment at Burlington Heights where he gave the British
officers the password. Billy knew the
area well and agreed to help lead a British attack down Lewis Lane to the
American position during the night.[19]
Isaac Corman was
escorted home and his house, where his family was confined, was placed under
guard.[20]
Lieutenant
James FitzGibbon also had a claim to having been in the American
encampment. Mary Agnes FitzGibbon, in
her biography of her grandfather, claimed that James had disguised himself as a
farmer and approached the American camp with a basket of butter. He was allowed into the camp as an American
sympathizer and to sell his butter. He
gained intelligence about the Americans while declaring the inferiority of the
British. Upon returning to Burlington
Heights he shared what he learned and supported a night attack.[21]
Young Jacob
Cline reported that he had heard that a soldier had approached the camp and
offered to sell the soldiers potatoes and butter. He told them that he had no horse but could
bring all that he could carry and return after dark. The Americans gave him the password to the
camp so he could enter during the night.[22]
June 6, 1813
The Battle
of Stoney Creek
Stoney Creek was the
largest settled area in Saltfleet Township.
There was a saw mill and three taverns in the community. Edward Brady and Stephen Jones each owned a
tavern.[23]
Captain William H. Merritt reported that
the Americans had forced the British pickets back as far as Aikman’s, about a
kilometer from the British camp at Burlington Heights.[24]
The Americans encamped
at Stoney Creek, about six kilometers east of the British. Their camp was set-up on the land of Mary
Gage who lived in the house with her son James Gage’s family. The house was on the southern edge of the
encampment and William Gage’s house was on the northern edge. William was Mary’s brother-in-law and the
Americans were encamped on his farm land as well. James’ home was plundered for supplies by the
Americans.[25]
The Americans used
fence rails to build their fires and one of Isaac Corman’s oxen, impressed that
day, was divided up amongst the cooks.[26]
James Gage had eleven
acres of meadow destroyed by pastured horses, six acres of corn trampled as the
American’s gathered in his fields, 500 fence rails burnt for fuel, three calves
and a sheep slaughtered for meat, and bags of flour taken for cooking.[27]
Eight-year old
Elizabeth Gage, the daughter of James, later wrote of her experiences of the
battle. She thought the Americans looked
half-starved and witnessed the losses from her father’s stores. They took bags of flour, twenty barrels of
whiskey, and cattle and sheep. Fence
rails were taken down to allow the riders to move easily between the
fields. The officers moved into her home
and quilts, forks, and spoons were passed out to men in the field.
Isaac Corman was confined
to his home. Jacob Springstead was
confined with other residents in a log cabin.[28]
Captain Merritt was
stationed with other officers at Barn’s tavern.
Waiting for orders, they napped on the grass.[29]
Ensign James George of
the 1st Lincoln Militia accompanied Colonel Harvey and Mr. McKenny
while they scouted the American position.
George suggested that the British attack.[30]
The British made a
surprise night attack on the American camp.
A Green family history had Billy Green at the front of the approach
where he killed one of the American sentries.[31]
When the Americans
began to fire on the British, Elizabeth Gage and her siblings were sent to hide
in the wool loft in the attic of their log home. The musket balls striking the house did not
pass through the thick log walls.[32]
Major Charles
Penderleath led a charge on the American artillery. Twenty or thirty militia volunteers joined
the charge.[33]
Samuel
Hatt’s wife and her former slave Sophia heard the battle. She had been born in New York State as a
slave and at age seven was stolen and sold to Chief Joseph Brant who took her
to his home in Burlington. At age
twelve, Joseph sold her to Samuel Hatt, a merchant and miller, in
Ancaster. The Hatts freed Sophia
sometime in 1813. Sophia later moved to the
Town of Waterloo where she married Robert Pooley, a free Black man. Robert had served in the Coloured Corps and
may have been present at the battle that woke Sophia up during the night.[34]
As day light returned,
the British retreated back to Burlington Heights. Captain William H. Merritt was sent back to
the battlefield to look for the missing Major General Vincent. He was challenged by an American sentry at Gage’s
house but as he wore a blue military coat similar to the American’s he dared to
impersonate an American officer. He
enquired about the British General as he pulled his pistol out. The sentry dropped his gun. Captain Merritt took him prisoner and another
man who had been unarmed.[35]
Lieutenant Colonel
Thomas Clark of the 2nd Lincoln was seriously wounded and taken
prisoner. Privates Lewis Campbell, William Martin, and George Pettit of the 4th
Lincoln were all taken prisoner.[36]
Where was Frederick
George Snider during the battle? He was
probably living in Ancaster Township at the time as one source had him woken at
home by the gunfire.[37]
Family history had him
with a flank company of the British 49th Regiment during the battle
where he received a wound to his cheek.[38]
When Elizabeth Gage
went outside in the morning she saw the American blankets still in rows and the
soldier’s bodies scattered about the field.[39]
Lieutenant Robert Land
of the 5th Lincoln reported that the Americans returned to the
battlefield after the sun rose, destroyed everything that they could not carry
off, and retreated in a disorganized manner leaving their dead and wounded.[40]
Elizabeth Gage wrote
that the neighbours came to see the musket ball holes in her house. They carried off anything left by the
Americans including the quilts that had been taken from her home. The Methodist church was broken and had been
riddled with musket balls as well. Some
of the wounded were taken to Dr. William Case’s home, on the Queenston Road,
which served as a hospital until the war was over.[41]
Other homes, like the
widow Letitia Gage’s and William Gage’s, were used as temporary hospitals. Some of the officers in William’s home were
moved by placing the bed in the back of a wagon. After the war, William claimed for lost beds,
bedding, and furniture. James Gage’s
home was one of these and his mother and wife helped find linen for
bandages. In William Davis’ Red Hill
tavern and Samuel Nash’s house the bedding was used to make bandages and the
blood permanently stained the floor. [42]
Dozens of wounded men
were transported to Richard Beasley’s wharf, placed on sheaves of wheat in the
bottom of bateaux, and were then shipped to York.[43]
Bodies in the fields
were picked up by William Green, Asiel Gage, Peter Gage, John Lee, and John
Yeager and placed in William Gage’s ox sled.
They reported that they buried sixty-one bodies in two large graves.[44]
John Cleaver of Nelson
Township had had his team of horses requisitioned for the British retreat. He talked the British into taking his twelve-year
old son James along with them to ensure that the horses were well looked
after. Family history had James working
the team on the battlefield, probably during the clean-up.[45]
Daniel
Barber and young Jacob Cline of the Forty Mile Creek had watched both the
American’s march to Stoney Creek the day before and their retreat that morning.[46]
Lieutenant Peter
McCollum reported that William Foster had been taken prisoner by the Americans
on the 5th and confined in the center of the battle until he was
released by the British troops. The
Americans took a barrel each of his flour and corn, a young heifer, fifteen
bushels of buckwheat, and all his household furniture. They also encamped on seven acres of corn and
five acres of oats, which they destroyed.
Lieutenant McCollum reported that they even stripped the clothing from
William’s children.[47]
William was a Loyalist
who served in the 1st Lincoln Militia during the War of 1812. Peter McCollum was promoted to ensign in the
4th Lincoln Militia during the war and received his commission as a
lieutenant in 1816. He took part in the
Battle of Queenston Heights in 1812 and was wounded at Lundy’s Lane in 1814.
Upper
Canadians Killed
None
discovered yet.
Upper
Canadians Wounded
Lieut.
Col. Thomas Clark, 2nd Lincoln
Ensign
James George, 1st Lincoln[48]
Frederick
George Snider
June 7, 1813
The Americans, their
senior officers captured, retreated from the battlefield early in the
morning. The Upper Canadian Militia mustered
in small groups and captured a number of American prisoners. Captains Henry Hixon and Jonathan Pettit of
the 4th Lincoln took part.[49]
Edward Brady, of Stoney
Creek, reported that the Americans mustered in his fields after the
battle. They threw down his fences and
trampled eight acres of wheat. They
entirely destroyed his garden and took a set of harnesses for a pair of horses.[50]
Private John Lee of the
5th Lincoln counted bodies prior to burial.[51]
Jacob
Cline recalled that the Americans stragglers arrived at the Forty Mile Creek
“dusty and footsore.” The women and
children “jeered at them.” When Jacob
asked an American, “I thought you were going to stay in Canada?,” the soldier
replied, “We’re going back for a bigger army.”
The Americans picked up a few things from their abandoned camp and
hurried on.[52]
Captain William H.
Merritt proceeded to the Twelve Mile Creek with ten men. The Americans received word that he was there
and sent out one hundred riflemen and some horsemen to capture him. The captain in turn had word that the
Americans were coming. He spent the
night at the Butler’s and the following day rode to Shipman’s where he met
Captains Norton and Kerr with about thirty Indigenous warriors. They planned to set up an ambush for the
Americans but thinking that they had time to spare, went to old Dittrick’s for
some refreshment. The Americans arrived
early and captured the three men left to keep watch. The small British party heard shots and sent
an old woman to scout the Americans. She
returned with a report and the party maintained their post. Merritt sent a man to make enquiries of the
locals who reported that the Americans had searched the area but had behaved
well. In the morning, Merritt’s party
retreated to the Twenty Mile Creek where they learned that the Americans were
advancing behind them.[53]
Ensign
John Bradt of the 5th Lincoln Militia was taken prisoner by the
Americans while serving in Captain Daniel Young’s Company.[54]
The Americans made camp
in Niagara on the lakefront property of William Crooks’. When they left, he confiscated everything
that the Americans left behind.[55]
June 8, 1813
In England
The Earl of Bathurst
wrote to General Sheaffe from England that His Royal Highness hoped that the
formation of the Incorporated Regiments and reinforcements from England would
relieve the local militia from extended service in defence of the province.[56]
June 9, 1813
On the
Niagara Frontier
The British General,
Sheaffe, ordered all district commanders, including those of the militia, to
report on the numbers and ranks of men under their command, their supply of
arms, ammunition, and other ordnances, and provisions, the provisions that
could be obtained locally, any other military stores, other people employed and
their wages, the number of barracks, block houses, and other buildings in use,
and the local defenses and their condition.[57]
June 10,
1813
Major Thomas Evans
reported from Forty Mile Creek that the Americans had burned Fort Erie,
withdrawn from Chippawa and Queenston, and retreated to Fort George. The Upper Canada Militia had taken a depot of
arms near Queenston and had possession of the town by evening.[58]
June 11,
1813
Lieutenant Colonel
Harvey wrote from 40 Mile Creek that General Vincent intended to advance from
there to encourage the militia and inhabitants of the area who were withholding
supplies from the Americans, to rise up in pursuit of the Americans, and take
them prisoner.[59]
Sergeant Angus McAfee
of the 5th Lincoln Militia was authorized by Brigadier General John
Vincent to requisition cattle for the military.
He was to select cattle from the people who had the greatest resources,
allow each family a milch cow and each farmer a working team, and to issue
receipts for what he had taken.[60]
June 12,
1813
Captain William H.
Merritt stopped at Dittrick’s with a few of his men to catch up on their sleep
as they had had none the night before.
One man was left on watch while a few dragoons watched the roads. About three o’clock in the following morning
about thirty American cavalry men were seen approaching and were lead away by
Merritt’s dragoons while he and his party made their escape from Dittrick’s.[61]
June 13,
1813
The commander of the
Coloured Corps reported two sergeants and twenty-seven rank and file were fit
for duty.[62]
Stephen Peer of
Stamford Township was very active in harassing the Americans, then in
possession of that area of the Niagara Frontier. Near his home, he surprised two American
dragoons mounted on a single horse. He
took them both prisoner, tied them up, and with the assistance of two other
militiamen, marched the dragoons to Henry’s at the Twenty Mile Creek. They handed the prisoners over to Lieutenant
Colonel de Haren who was stationed there.
Stephen was not allowed
to keep the captured horse and had to return home on foot. He was later unsuccessful in attempting to
collect compensation for the horse. The
British usually awarded prize money for captured property.
Stephen was killed at
the Battle of Chippawa in July, 1814 and his widow made a war loss claim for
the value of the horse after the war.
She received twelve pounds and ten shillings.[63]
June 14,
1813
Brigadier General
Vincent wrote from Forty Mile Creek that they needed shoes, more than any other
article.[64]
June 17,
1813
A muster roll and pay
list of a detachment of the 2nd Norfolk Militia under Lieutenant
Titus Williams reported the men captured by the Americans at Sugar Loaf as the
lieutenant and Privates John Widner, Jeremiah Green, Sobrigen Dominique, Angus
McIntire, Charles Knight, Elijah Mononier, Alexander Logan, John Furry, and
Samuel Troup.[65]
In 1816,
the Loyal and Patriotic Society provided aid to the families of John Hedener,
John Knight, Alexander Logan, and Pr. Cornelius who were all captured while
transporting flour by boat at Sugar Loaf and imprisoned by the Americans for
over twelve months.[66]
June 18,
1813
War was declared one
year before.
Militia men had been
forced to serve despite shortages of supplies and food. Most militia deaths occurred in the first
twelve months of the war and most of those were due to disease and accidents. Ninety-three men died for these reasons while
only twelve died as a result of engaging the Americans. For a number of reasons, militia involvement
in conflicts declined in the next two years and deaths due to conflicts
outnumbered those due to illness.[67]
June 20,
1813
Anna Bowman was born in
New Jersey to George Jacob Bowman, a Loyalist, and Catharine Metlor. Her first husband was Charles Gesso, a
Loyalist and a baker in the Town of Niagara.
Charles and Anna Gesso supplied bread for the British troops and militia
stationed at Fort George. During the
American occupation of Fort George, Anna was approached by an American
officer. Fearing that he may have been
intent on looting her bakery, she struck the officer’s horse on the flank and
the horse took off with the officer.
Once the horse and his rider were out of sight Anna buried her silver salt to keep it safe.
In June, Surgeon Kerr
requested that Anna carry intelligence on the impending movements of the
Buffalo and Gennessee warriors who were serving the Americans. Anna and her three children took the message
by ox cart from Niagara to the British post at Decou’s house at Beaver
Dams. After the war, she unsuccessfully
made a land petition requesting a grant for her support of the British during
the war.
On June 20, 1813, Trooper John Stiver Jr.,
of Merritt’s Dragoons, was captured while scouting the Americans and was taken
across the Niagara River as a prisoner.
John’s father, John Stiver Sr., had a parole from the Americans. Because father and son had the same name, the
Americans thought that John Jr. was his father and that he had been bearing
arms while under parole. John Sr. wanted
to visit his son. He obtained a new
parole and a pass to cross the river and visit his son from General Dearborn at
Fort George. Upon showing his papers to
his neighbour, Mrs. Gesso, she realized that the papers could be used to free
John Jr. Anna took possession of the
papers while John Sr. left town to hide from the Americans. She then took a pail of butter across the
river to sell to the Americans. After
selling the butter to the commanding officer she presented the parole and pass
to the officer as the papers of John Jr.
He was released, returned across the river with her, and joined his
comrades.[68]
On October 7, 1815, Charles Gesso made a
war loss claim for the loss of his house and adjoining buildings, with their
contents, which were burned by the Americans in December, 1813.[69]
June 21,
1813
Lieutenant James
Fitzgibbon and the 49th Regiment of Foot were following Captain
Chapin’s Irregulars near Chippawa when about 150 American Regulars were
seen. Fitzgibbon decided to scout ahead
by himself. As he approached the Inn on
Lundy’s Lane, near the falls, Mrs. Kerby, the wife of Captain James Kerby,
warned him that American Dragoons were in the area. He saw a horse tethered outside Edward
Defield’s Inn and entered the inn to investigate. Sarah, Edward’s wife, Mr. Johnston, and Dr.
Kirby’s thirteen-year old son helped Fitzgibbon capture two Americans after a
struggle in the inn.[70]
Another version of the
event had Mrs. Defield kicking a sword out of an American’s hand, picking it
up, and running into the house to hide it.
Her husband subdued one American while Fitzgibbon subdued the other.[71]
In 1816, Edward received a land grant for
his wife’s aid to Fitzgibbon. During the
1837 Rebellion, their son, James Defield, was taken prisoner at the Battle of
the Windmill, near Prescott, and sentenced to death for treason. Sarah obtained the support of James
Fitzgibbon who helped her son obtain a pardon.[72]
Captain William H.
Merritt rode to Point Abino in response to a report that he had passed
information to the Americans. He noted
that the Americans had possession of Fort Erie and Chippawa.[73]
June 22,
1813
Commanding officers of
militia regiments were to report the names of men who had died of disease while
on duty, the state of their families, and the names and ages of their children.[74]
June 23,
1813
Laura Secord later
wrote that she had heard the officers billeted in her home in Queenston
discussing the plans to attack Lieutenant James FitzGibbon’s men at Beaver
Dams. Early in the morning she began her
nineteen-mile walk to warn FitzGibbon.
In the evening, she found a group of Indigenous people encamped at Decou’s,
near Beaver Dams. Though afraid of the warriors
she approached the chiefs and told them that they were in danger and that she
had news for FitzGibbon. She was
escorted to Beaver Dams where she met with him.[75]
Ensign John Applegarth
of the 2nd York Militia took two steers for the use of the British
army from William Disher of Pelham Township.
After the war, Mr. Disher presented a war loss claim for his lost
steers. Enquiries were made of Mr.
Applegarth who checked his papers and produced a receipt for sixty dollars
which was paid to Mr. Disher for the two steers. William Disher’s claim for the loss of the
steers was rejected and it was noted that it had been a shameful act and an
“imposition on the public.”[76]
On Lake
Erie
Seaman
Charles Beauprie of the Provincial Marines was wounded. He received a pension after the war.[77]
June 24,
1813
The Battle
of Beaver Dams
The Battle of Beaver
Dams was fought on the land of George Miller of Thorold Township. He owned Lots 25-27 and the east half of Lot
8.[78]
Lieutenant Colonel
Thomas Clarke was leading a company of the 2nd Lincoln Militia to
support Fitzgibbon when he heard the battle in the distance.[79]
The battle was fought
on part of the land owned by George Jacob Bowman, the father of Anna Maria
Gesso who had earlier in the month carried Dr. Kerr’s message to the British at
Decew’s House.[80]
In 1815, George made a
war loss claim for wheat, rye, peas, and oats on twelve acres of land. The Americans had torn down his fences and
trampled those crops.[81]
June 25,
1813
Private Samuel Green of
the 2nd York Militia began a twelve-day bateaux journey to York.[82]
About this time, Robert
Hodgkinson of Grantham Township had a horse taken by some Indigenous warriors. Having heard that the warriors were headed
for the Grand River, he hired Lawrance Carsen of Clinton Township to help him
pursue them. There they learned that
Cherikee, a cousin of Captain John Norton, had claimed the horse and had
travelled further west. They were unable
to pursue the horse further.[83]
Robert was born in the
township in 1793 to John Hodgkinson, a Loyalist, and Sarah Spencer.[84]
June 27,
1813
Thomas Humberstone, the
son of a Loyalist and a resident of York Township, served as a lieutenant in
the 3rd York Militia in 1812 and sometime in 1813 transferred to the
Incorporated Militia. He and his men
were overwhelmed by a superior number of American prisoners they were escorting
to Kingston. The Americans took his
sword and belt and imprisoned him on their return to their own country.[85]
June 30,
1813
Field rations were worse than garrison
food. Lieutenant William MacEwen, of the
First Battalion of Royal Scots, was stationed near Fort George, which was
occupied by the Americans. He described
the food as bad and too little to maintain his health. When supplies were available, his daily
ration would have been a six-pound loaf of bread every fourth day baked a day
or two before and one pound of fresh or salted beef and a half gill of rum each
day. Ten and a half ounces of salted
pork could be substituted for the beef, if it was not available. Transportation problems also limited what was
available to feed the men.
William complained that
Upper Canadians refused to sell their produce.
British regulars were expected to supplement their died with local
purchases.[86]
In York
Township
In June, Ely Playter killed two veal
calves, dug a drain to his cellar, and found the ground too wet to sow.[87]
In
Ancaster Township
On June 1st, Benjamin Smith of Ancaster
Township spent his last day with the militia at Durand’s. He was home on the 2nd and began working on
the farm again. He cleaned and thrashed
wheat, hired John Lewis to work for him for 4 months at ten dollars a month,
went to the mill and the still house and later picked up the grist and some
whiskey. With help, oats were sowed, the
fields harried and plowed, wood was cut and hauled in, brush was picked and
heaped, clay was dug for an oven that Benjamin built, soil was grubbed, logs
were burned, willows were mowed, saplings were cut, and crops were hoed
John Lewis, Sam Gordon, and David Williams
helped with the farming.
On the first Sunday of the month he went to a meeting and heard details
about the battle at Fort George. On the
8th, he went to Beasley’s to retrieve his horses and saw American prisoners
there. He later heard Mr. Neal and Mr.
Swazey preach on Sunday. Sam Lee shot a
buck.[88]
Upper Canadian Service Deaths
Private Kiah Hull, Incorporated Militia,
illness, June, 1813
Widow Elizabeth Hull, later remarried
Private David Miller, 3rd York, disease,
June, 1813
Private Solomon Nichols, Oxford, disease, June 27, 1813,
Orphaned children to Violetta Desten
Private John Overholt, 1st Lincoln, disease, June,
1813,
Orphaned children to John Clark
Private David Pulse, Addington, illness, June 14, 1813
Widow Catharine Pulse
Sgt. Johnston Story, 1st Essex, disease, June 30, 1813,
Orphaned children to Mary Roach
Teamster Robert Wilkerson, 1st Lincoln, illness, June 5, 1813
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[12] James E. Elliott, Strange Fatality, The Battle of
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[13] James E. Elliott, Strange Fatality, The Battle of
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Warfare is a fascinating subject. Despite the dubious morality of using violence to achieve personal or political aims. It remains that conflict has been used to do just that throughout recorded history.
ReplyDeleteYour article is very well done, a good read.