First
Edition Published November 7, 2015
Second
Edition Published October 20, 2016
Third
Edition Published December 3, 2018
Copyright
by Fred Blair
March 6,
1813
In Stoney
Creek
Edward Brady of Stoney
Creek was employed to carry government dispatches until October 18th,
for a total of 227 days. He supplied his
own horses and provisions and rode between Burlington and the 40 Mile Creek and
to other places in the area. From 1813
to 1814, his wagon, house, and supplies were frequently impressed by the
British military.[1]
March 13,
1813
In York
Lieutenant Colonel
Thomas Pearson had earlier proposed replacing the inefficient flank company
system with a battalion of volunteers who would sign up for the duration of the
war. These men would receive the same
pay as flankers, would receive bounties and uniforms, and would be offered land
grants.
Sheaffe put the
proposal for the Incorporated Militia before the Assembly which soon approved
it with some modifications. The
volunteers were exempted from debts under fifty pounds, protected from property
seizure for unpaid debts, exempted from taxes and statutory labour, and were to
receive a small bounty for enlisting with which they were to pay for their
uniforms. Men were to be able bodied and
between the ages of sixteen and forty-five.
Officers had to recruit a quota of men dependent upon the officer’s
rank. Sheaffe later found additional
funds to increase the bounty and the men were to receive the same rate of pay
as the British regulars.[2]
Although the original
plan had included the formation of five or six battalions of five hundred men,
by the end of 1813, the Incorporated Militia numbered only about three hundred
men altogether. Sheaffe ordered them to
serve building fortifications and to assist on the boats sailing the lakes.[3]
March 16,
1813
On the
Niagara Frontier
General Sheaffe was
concerned about troop movements on the other side of the Niagara River and
ordered the 5th Lincoln and 2nd York Militias to each
march three companies to the nearest point on the Niagara Frontier.[4]
March 17,
1813
An artillery duel
across the Niagara River occurred between the Americans at Black Rock and the
British at Fort Erie. During this distraction,
three Upper Canadian families took to the ice near Sugar Loaf, succeeded in
passing between the sentries undiscovered, and gained a good lead on the ice
before they were observed. They made it
to Black Rock on the American side with most of their possessions.[5]
Who were they and where
was Sugar Loaf?
A militia claims board
was set up at Fort George to review and pay expenses incurred on the Niagara
Frontier. Claims included militia
lodging costs, unpaid wages, and the purchase of fire wood, clothing, fire
wood, candles, tack and forage, hospital supplies, and other provisions. Upper Canadians claimed for unpaid rent and
labour, provisions taken or lost, and damaged and lost property. A number of the boats that General Brock used
to transport his men to Fort Detroit had not been returned and there were
claims for losses and damage incurred at Queenston the previous October. Horses, wagons, and sleighs had also been impressed
regularly and not returned. A report was
completed on the 25th.[6]
March 20,
1813
John B. Rabbie,
formerly of the 2nd Lincoln Militia, died accidently while serving
with the Militia Artillery Drivers in Chippawa.
He left Angelique Rabbie a widow.[7]
March 23,
1813
In York
The Patriotic Young
Ladies of York presented the 3rd York Militia with embroidered
colours.[8]
March 24,
1813
The 3rd York
Militia compiled a Return for the regiment.
It was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel William Chewett and Major William
Allan. George Duggan was the adjutant
and Charles Baynes the quartermaster.
There were eleven companies composed of from 3 to 113 men in each
company. Ensign Donald McArthur was
excluded from service in a company as he had refused to join the Whitby
Company.
There was a total of 495 men available to be mustered in the
regiment.
In addition, 15 were
reported dead, 27 had been discharged, 28 had deserted, and 127 were exempted
from service as over fifty years of age, by order of the surgeon, or as Quakers,
“Menonists”, and Tunkers. Of the men
exempted, 8 were sergeants and the remainder were recorded as privates.
The 11 companies were
recorded as John Denison’s, Duncan Cameron’s, John Playter’s, David Thompsons’,
Samuel Ridout’s, Stephen Heward’s (three gentlemen (officers) of the late flank
companies), Thomas Hamilton’s, the Yonge Street Company under John Scarlett,
the Town Company under Edward McMahon, William Jarvis’, and John Robinson’s.
Cameron’s, Ridout’s,
and Hamilton’s Companies were in the garrison.[9]
The next Return was on
June 4, 1814.
March 26,
1813
On the
Niagara Frontier
Captain John D. Servos
kept a ledger book of information about his company in the 1st
Lincoln Militia. For this date, he
recorded the names of 34 men in his company and listed the beds, blankets,
muskets and accoutrements, and rounds of ammunition each had been issued. All of the men were issued blankets but only
half received beds. This suggested that
the men were sleeping two to a bed.
Twenty-eight men were issued muskets and 21 were issued 1 to 26 rounds
of ammunition. This suggested that some
of the men may have brought their own muskets and ammunition.[10]
March 29,
1813
In York
A Court of Oyer and
Terminer was held at York in the Home District by Justice Thomas Scott. Rowland Heathcott, Briant Finin, and Patrick
Welsh were found guilty of riot and assault.
Their fines were 40, 20, and 40 pounds respectively and they were to be
confined until the fines were paid.[11]
March 31,
1813
In Prince
Edward County
During the month,
Captain John Howell of the Prince Edward Militia was tried, found guilty, and
dismissed from his commission for not feeding his men. Although the men were supposed to receive a
loaf of bread every fourth day, one of Howell’s sergeants testified that he had
received only one loaf between January 15th and 24th. Howell had been accused of fraud because he
had received the men’s bread rations but had disposed of them in some other
way. He was found not guilty of fraud.[12]
In
Ancaster Township
Benjamin Smith of Ancaster Township took more wheat to
Samuel Hatt’s, cut and hauled more wood, shelled his corn with his boys, took
corn to Muma’s, picked up steel at Hatt’s, thrashed and cleaned wheat, and got
a keg of whiskey at Muma’s. John, Bob,
and Bill Kelley, John Wilkins, and Benjamin’s sons helped with the farm work. On the 3rd, he went to
Dundas to get a plow mould from McCoy.
Sunday, the 7th, the quarterly Sunday meeting was at
Benjamin’s house. Benjamin was 40 years
old on the 26th. On the 28th,
Mrs. Jerome was buried.[13]
Sources:
[1] Collections Canada,
War of 1812, Board of Claims and Losses, Microfilm t-1137, pages 1000-1004.
[2] George Sheppard, Plunder, Profit, and
Paroles: A Social History of the War of
1812 in Upper Canada, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1994, pages 70-71.
[3] George Sheppard, Plunder, Profit, and
Paroles: A Social History of the War of
1812 in Upper Canada, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1994, page 74.
[4] Annals of the Forty,
Vol. 1, Grimsby Historical Society, 1950.
[5] Buffalo Gazette, March
23, 1813, at Forces of Lord Selkirk, posted March 17, 2018.
[6] Collections Canada,
War of 1812, Board of Claims and Losses, Microfilm t-1122, pages 366-394.
[7] Collections Canada,
War of 1812, Board of Claims and Losses, Microfilm t-1126, pages 846-847.
[8] The Fife and Drum, The
Newsletter of The Friends of Fort York and Garrison Common, Volume 16, Number
5, December, 2012, page 7.
[9] Collections Canada,
War of 1812: Upper Canada Returns,
Nominal Rolls and Paylists, Microfilm t-10383, page 1049.
[10] Capt. John D. Servos’
Ledger, Niagara Historical Society and Museum, page 18, accessed March 8, 2012
at http://images.ourontario.ca/1812/70252/data?n=405
[11] Linda Corupe, U.E.,
Upper Canada Justice, Early Assize Court Records of Ontario, Vol. 2, 1810-1818,
transcribed and indexed 2008, pages 74-76.
[12] George Sheppard, Plunder, Profit, and
Paroles: A Social History of the War of
1812 in Upper Canada, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1994, page 110.
[13] Benjamin Smith’s Diary, Benjamin Smith Fonds F582, Ontario
Archives, Toronto, Ontario.
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