First Edition Published
January 30, 2016
Second Edition
Published January 30, 2017
Third
Edition Published July 13, 2019
Copyright
by Fred Blair
Additions
and changes to this edition are in blue text.
October 1,
1813
On the Niagara
Frontier
Captain William H. Merritt wrote
that about this time that his brother-in-law, Mr. Gordon, being confident that
the army would retire to Burlington Heights, took family members from the
Twelve Mile Creek to Burlington. Mr.
Gordon, his two children, and William’s youngest sister were all ill at the
time. They encountered a heavy gale off
the Forty Mile Creek and nearly drowned on making shore. They were all very wet, as was their
baggage. When William arrived, he found
his sister gravely ill at A. Nelles’ house.
His mother arrived and took care of the girl until she was recovered.[1]
A. Nelles was Captain Abraham Nelles
of the 4th Lincoln Militia who had a grist mill on the Forty Mile
Creek.[2]
It was unusual to find a war loss claim
made after the war by an Indigenous ally.
A team of oxen was impressed from the Mohawk War Chief, Henry A. Hill,
by the British for twenty-six days. The
oxen were used to transport provisions from Burlington Heights to Amherstburg
for the use of General Proctor’s army.
Richard Cockrell was in charge of this wagon train. Stephen Douglas reported that he drove
Henry’s oxen from Burford in Wentworth County to Dalson on the River
Thames. In 1819, Henry made a war loss
claim for the use of his oxen.[3]
James Tinlin Sr. recorded that
shortly after the Battle of Stoney Creek, General Dearborn had ordered families
to be evacuated from their homes in the suburbs of the Town of Niagara so that
they could not pass on information about the Americans to the British
scouts. James’ family was evacuated
during his absence and his house and gardens were destroyed by the Americans
about October 1st.[4]
James was probably James Tinlin
(1766-1840) of New York State who married Anna Brander (1771-1841).[5]
Ann Gesso,
a resident of the town, had carried information about the American Indigenous
allies in June.
Major
General Vincent reported that he intended to dismiss Eneas Shaw as Adjutant
General of the Militia because he had very few militia men reporting for duty.[6]
However, Vincent was
still issuing Shaw orders on October 11th.
October 2,
1813
Thomas G. Ridout wrote
that the American’s had taken the property of a number of Upper Canadians who
had remained loyal to the British. The
Dutch Mennonites had been aiding the Americans, but the British had recently
taken a number of their wagons. He was
concerned that the Americans had loaded about sixty bateaux with men to
accompany their fleet and could be planning to outflank the British. The British had stripped the cattle from the
area around Chippawa and Short Hill and were in the process of driving them
away from the camps. The impressed
wagons were loaded with baggage and Thomas expected to be ordered to march that
day.[7]
Major General Vincent reported, from
Burlington Heights, that there were rumours of an American advance and the
British wagons had been left at St. David’s because the roads near Four Mile
Creek were exceedingly bad. Militia men
with teams could not be tempted to remain with the British army.[8]
October 3,
1813
On the Thames River
Edward Hazel, an officer in the
Indian Department, wrote that he was present at John and James McGregor’s
Chatham Mills on the Thames River, with other officers and Tecumseth and his
men. The Americans were about a quarter
mile away when the decision was made by Tecumseth to set fire to the mills so
that the wheat stored inside could not fall into the enemy’s hands.
After the war, John presented his
claim for over 3100 Halifax pounds. As
well as the three-storey mill he a large set of scales and weights, two double
stoves, a saw mill, 550 bushels of corn, 150 bushels of wheat, and other items. Prices were
A
400-pound fat cow at 10 pounds
Corn at
5 shillings per bushel
Wheat at
7.5 shillings per bushel.[9]
Ezekiel Willcox, of the Thames
River, lost 103 bushels of wheat that he had stored in the mill and a grey mare
to British Indigenous warriors. He
valued the wheat at about 7.3 shillings per bushel.[10]
About this time, James Blan and his
family abandoned their farm in Essex County to join the exodus to Burlington
Heights with General Proctor’s forces.
He left his property in the care of an elderly Coloured man who was
unable to travel. When the Americans
arrived, they accused the elderly man of harbouring British spies. They placed a rope around his neck and “hung
him up.” Mrs. Girty cut the rope and
saved the man’s life. James Girty was
also present during the event.
The Americans plundered James’
buildings and set fire to his log house and milk house before leaving.[11]
October 5,
1813
The Battle
of Moraviantown on the Thames
While
looking for his family’s cows, David Sherman and his companion Ward came across
Tecumseth and about 300 of his warriors in a black ash swamp. Tecumseth told the boys to gather the cows
quickly as they were expecting the American’s to attack at any time. He was wearing a scarf around his head with a
large white ostrich plume.[12]
General
Proctor had ordered the British to flee west from the Detroit area before a
superior American Army. The Americans
caught up to the British at Moraviantown and engaged them there.
John
Richardson, a volunteer with the 41st Regiment, was with a group of
regulars who had become lost in the woods while fleeing the Americans. When they emerged onto the roadway they found
themselves between two American groups and were captured.[13]
He gave his parole not
to escape and was escorted back to Michigan with other prisoners. They passed through Fort Stephenson where
John had escaped capture the month before.
From there they proceeded to the Town of Chillicothe on “miserable” pack
horses. At this point they were escorted
by a single American officer. John
complained that he was “wet to the skin” for most of this journey as rain was
frequent. Most nights were spent around
camp fires in the wilderness. They
received a change of horses at Fort Wayne but they were no improvement. At Chillicothe there was no bridge and the
horses had to swim across the river. In
the town, John was given comfortable accommodation with regular meals and the
opportunity to borrow a horse for riding.
The Moravian prisoners had only a short stay in the town, as orders were
received to transfer the soldiers to Frankfort, Kentucky. John thought that he was fortunate to be
allowed to stay in the town with the British naval prisoners.
About this time, the
Americans became aware of the fate of 23 men taken prisoner at the Battle of
Queenston Heights on October 13, 1812.
It was determined that these men had all been British deserters serving
with the Americans. This made them
guilty of treason. They were sent to
England for trial and were found guilty, but their execution was deferred. The Americans decided to confine 23 British
prisoners as hostages for the condemned Americans. John Richardson was one of these prisoners
and he found himself confined with the others.
The British responded
by confining 46 American prisoners and the Americans retaliated by confining an
additional 46 British prisoners. The
British additional prisoners were to be taken to Frankfort as well.
Twenty-three British
prisoners were confined in small rooms in the Chillicothe gaol, about ten to a
room. After some time, the Americans
decided to build a fortified camp outside of the town to house the
prisoners. The prisoners planned an
escape with the help of two of the town’s people but these men revealed the
plan to the governor of Kentucky. All of
the prisoners were then hand-cuffed with the exception of John Richardson. John served the others, performing duties
that the encumbered could not perform for themselves. John wrote a letter requesting that the
prisoners be unfettered while washing and changing into clean clothes but
received no response from their keepers.
The prisoners
eventually managed to remove the nails from their cuffs with an old knife and
replaced them with lead that a midshipman had in his haversack. When they were unobserved, they could now
stealthily remove their cuffs themselves and have some relief from that
confinement and from the pain of the sores on their wrists.
After ten days of confinement
in the cuffs, the prisoners were escorted out of prison through the streets of
the town to a boat on the river. During
their journey on the water the boat struck a tree trunk floating in the water
that put the prisoners at risk of drowning.
When they arrived at a deserted building where they were to spend the
night, the American officer in charge indicated that he would remove their
cuffs if they pledged not to escape.
They continued their boat journey until they were met by a party on
shore with horses for their ride to the prison in Frankfort, Kentucky. Upon their arrival in the already crowded
prison, they were met by the other prisoners captured at Moraviantown.
The policy of using
prisoners as hostages gradually fell out of favour and the British officers
were moved to the principal hotel in Frankfort but were not allowed to leave
that property. A pair of prisoners
shared one room and the food was excellent.
Slaves waited upon them and cleaned their clothing and bedding.
Eventually, they were
put back on parole and officers who had the finances to purchase horses and
supplies were allowed to make their own way back to Upper Canada. The remainder had to wait until an exchange
was arranged. Some were welcomed into
American homes in the community and they were allowed, with permission, to
travel up to 20 miles outside the town.[14]
John Richardson would
have to wait until August, 1814 before his journey home began.
In September, General
Proctor impressed wagons, horses, and men from the Mennonite community in
Waterloo Township. Cornelius Pannebecker
put his wagon in his blacksmith shop and removed the wheels so that it could
not be taken. However, the British
impressed his horses to pull a neighbour’s wagon. Family histories recorded that the men were
fed on beans provided by the Commissariat.
The British had encamped near Moraviantown and were preparing to eat
when it was discovered that the American army was almost upon them. The teamsters were told to run for their
lives. They gathered up as many horses
as possible and fled without their wagons and supplies.[15]
After the war,
Cornelius Pannebecker made a war loss claim for a harness and five three-bushel
bags lost at the battle.[16]
The seventeen claim
records made by men from Waterloo Township included the loss of thirteen
wagons, four horses, a yoke of oxen, harnesses and other horse gear, clothing,
and blankets.
Other wagons and
teams were impressed during the retreat.
James Westbrook of Westminster Township was driving a pair of oxen and a
wagon load of supplies to Sandwich when he encountered part of Proctor’s army. The oxen had been impressed from Gilbert
Harris and Hugh McKay of Oxford Township.
James lost the oxen and two wagons to the Americans at Moraviantown.[17]
Edward Page, a
Coloured man from Malden Township, later claimed for the loss of four horses at
the battle.[18]
John White was in
charge of the British stores during the retreat and was severely wounded by the
Americans, was left for dead, and had 116 pounds-sterling stolen from him his
person. John had been a ship’s carpenter
at York in 1812 and had been placed in charge of stores there as well. On February 1, 1814, Major General Drummond
signed an order to have John conveyed to the Town of York at the government’s
expense. On March 19, 1814, John applied
to the Loyal and Patriotic Society at York for a pension because his wound had
disabled him and limited his ability to earn a living in his trade. The society granted him $100.00. After the war, John made a war loss claim for
the money that was taken from him while he lay on the battlefield at
Moraviantown. In 1824, he reported that
he had a wife and five small children to support. A note on the outside of the claim indicated
that it was inadmissible.[19]
David Sherman, who had earlier that day
encountered Tecumseth, his father Lemuel Sherman, of the Kent Militia, and
other farmers from the area helped bury the dead of both sides in a common
grave. It was rumoured that the
Sherman’s knew where Tecumseth was buried, but his grave was never found.
The sick and wounded were taken to the
Sherman farm where the barn was used as a hospital. Many men recovered there during the winter
and left their names carved in woodwork.
A Kentucky trooper remained with the Sherman’s for many years until he
died and was buried there.[20]
Lemuel suffered a
number of losses at this time. The
Americans took, burnt, and destroyed his property. He lost a large number of fence panels and
rails, 300 bushels of wheat, 100 bushels of oats, fifty bushels of spelt, four
tons of hay, and other items. In his
losses to the British he claimed for three days with a team conveying the sick
and baggage of the 41st Regiment, six days conveying stores, thirty
bushels of oats to the Provincial Dragoons, and a cart impressed by the
army. The Indigenous warriors allied
with the British killed ten of his hogs.
He claimed:
Wheat at
7.5 shillings per bushel of wheat
Oats at 5
shillings per bushel of oats
Spelt
(an ancient wheat) at 5 shillings per bushel
Hay at 3
pounds per ton.[21]
The Reverend
Christian Frederick Denkey was acting missionary to the Moravian Indigenous
people at this time, when the Americans plundered the mission property. The mission lost a house of worship, a
school, five dwelling houses, and four stables. Livestock taken away included two heifers, a
bull, a horse, and eighteen hogs. The contents
of the buildings included two stoves with pipes, four tables, two cupboards, a washing
machine, a pipe mould, three double bedsteads, five trambles, two sets of hand
irons, two still wells, nine brass kettles, two tin kettles, two dutch ovens,
three skillets, four copper tea kettles, a coffee mill, and a brass candle
stick from the church. Farming utensils
included a plough, an iron teeth harrow, a large chain, two scythes, two
sickles, two hatches, six iron wedges, a cross cut saw, a flax break, a gun, a
thermometer, seven linen bags, five spinning wheels, two reels, a syringe,
thirty pounds of hops, twenty bushels of potatoes, ten bushels of apples, 150
bushels of Indian corn, two tons of timothy and clover hay, and sixty pounds of
tobacco. Values included:
A horse
at 5 pounds
A bee
hive at 25 shillings
Hogs at
1 pound each
Copper
tea kettles at 2 pounds each
A coffee
mill at 5 pounds
A
thermometer at 25 shillings
Hops at
1.5 shillings per pound
Potatoes
at 2 shillings per bushel
Apples
at 2 shillings per bushel
Indian
corn at 5 shillings per bushel
Timothy
& clover hay 2.5 pounds per ton
Tobacco at
5 shillings a pound.[22]
After the battle the
Americans also burnt a Delaware Nation village on the north side of the Thames
River.[23]
October 6,
1813
In the Newcastle District
A Court of Oyer and
Terminer and General Gaol Delivery was held in Hamilton Township in the
District Newcastle by Justice William Dummer Powell. Philander Brunson and Samuel Martin were both
found guilty of larceny and were sentenced to be confined for 24 hours and to
then be publicly whipped.[24]
October 9,
1813
On the Niagara
Frontier
Captain William H. Merritt wrote
that Major General Vincent had begun a retreat to Burlington Heights. A quantity of flour left behind was taken by
the Americans, but Vincent had ordered many of the British supplies destroyed.
William’s father, though ill, was
determined to retreat with the British, but William convinced him to stay
behind in his home. Most of the family
were still in Burlington.[25]
In the London District
Six Upper Canadians from Dover went
to Buffalo together and joined a party of Americans, under the command of
William Sutherland, who were headed for the London District. The thirty men were intent on capturing
public officers and property. Between
Dover and the Grand River, Simon Mabee left the group to go to his home in
Dover where he stole a horse from Mr. Nichol’s barn. Another man stole a horse from Nolen Davis’
field. Several Upper Canadians were
taken prisoner. William Warren, John
Bonnet, Hall, Frit, and Gilman were sent to Buffalo as prisoners. Several of the band of men took a boat to
Patterson’s Creek where they tried to recruit more men for their cause. William Francis was captured with six head of
cattle and they were all taken to Buffalo.[26]
William Francis would later testify
at the trial of some of his captors at the Ancaster Assizes in July, 1814. Friends and family of these men would kill
William on October 22, 1814 in retaliation.
In Oxford County
William Teeple, William Herington,
and David Graham, all of Oxford Township, were in the home of William
McCartney, in the same township, when during the night, a party of Indigenous
warriors entered the house and threatened them with knives and tomahawks. The Indigenous allies took a pair of pistols,
a gun, some provisions, and apparel, after destroying some beds and furniture.[27]
John Norton signed a receipt for
provisions and whiskey supplied to the Indigenous people on August 27, 1812 by
William McCartney which may have indirectly led to the plundering of his home
the following year because he was known to keep whiskey.[28]
William served as a Quartermaster to
the 1st Oxford Militia Flank Companies in 1812.[29]
October 11,
1813
On the Niagara
Frontier
Major General Vincent reported that
the militia had mostly deserted and returned to their homes. He had ordered General Shaw to go to York and
call out the Upper Canadians to repair the roads and bridges so he could bring supplies
to the Town of York.[30]
On the Thames River
Frederick
Arnold of the River Thames area was employed for two days with a team conveying
the sick and baggage of the 41st Regiment from Howard Township to
Moraviantown. He claimed 1 pound and
shillings for his service in 1815. His
claim was ruled inadmissible.[31]
October 12,
1813
In Lower Canada
An American raiding party with about
150 soldiers attacked Mississiquoi Bay with the intent of disrupting the
smuggling of American goods to the British.
Colonel Clark with a detachment of about 100 members of the 4th
Battalion of Select Embodied Militia found himself under attack at
Philipsburg. The militia men “were not
yet properly organized or armed.”
One man was killed and eight were
wounded. The prisoners taken were Major
Joseph Powell, Captains John Ruiter, James Pell, and Philip Luke Jr.,
Lieutenant John Richard, Ensigns Snider, George Ellis, and John Waggoner, 5
sergeants, and 91 privates.[32]
October 14,
1813
On the Niagara
Frontier
John Lawrence of Niagara Township
transported baggage for the 19th Light Dragoons from Twelve Mile
Creek to Ancaster for four days.[33]
October 15,
1813
About 1300 retreating Western Indigenous
people arrived in the Town of Burford.
October 16,
1813
Brigadier General McClure,
commanding the American forces on the Niagara Frontier, wrote an address to the
Upper Canadians. As the British military
had abandoned the area, they were now under martial law. The citizens were to remain at their homes
and to have no communications with the British.
The existing laws of the province were to be maintained if they did not
interfere with army regulations and local magistrates were to report any
misconduct by American soldiers.[34]
Captain William H. Merritt recorded
that the traitor, Wilcox, had returned to Upper Canada and had been made Police
Officer in charge of civil management and related military affairs. He noted that Wilcox always patrolled the
region at night and occasionally came as far as the Forty Mile Creek. William and his troop had tried to find him a
number of times. William had nearly been
captured himself one evening while visiting the ladies at the creek.[35]
On the St. Lawrence
River
Mary Smith of Far Island, on the St.
Lawrence River, east of Gananoque, wrote that her milch cow was killed and
taken on board the gun boat Black Snake which was sailed by Edward Walker of
Kingston. The British officers on board
told her that she could make a claim in Kingston for the value of the cow.
Mary’s husband, James Smith of Yonge
Township, was on duty at the time with the militia in Prescott. He served in Captain Richard D. Fraser’s
Company of the Provincial Light Dragoons.[36]
October 17, 1813
On the Niagara
Frontier
Private Benjamin Smith reported that
Captain John Smith’s Company of the 5th Lincoln Militia marched to
Aikman’s and then stayed the night at Adam Green’s.[37]
October 18,
1813
Captain John Smith’s Company was at
the Twelve Mile Creek and stayed at Still’s house.[38]
It was the first day of snow in
Ancaster Township.[39]
October 19,
1813
Captain John Smith’s Company was at
McLean’s and stayed in Roeback’s barn until the 25th.[40]
October 20,
1813
On Lake Ontario
Thomas Smith was employed as a hand
upon the schooner Betsy, under the command of Captain Sampson, in a small fleet
crossing Lake Ontario, when they were discovered and pursued by the American
fleet. Orders were given to abandon the
Betsy and Thomas was commanded to set fire to the vessel so that it could not
be captured.[41]
October 22,
1813
On the Niagara
Frontier
Another 700 western refugees arrived
in the Town of Burford and continued on to Brant’s Ford.
On Lake Ontario
Angus Mackintosh, an agent of the
North West Company in Sandwich, supplied six bateaux to transport sick troops
from York to Kingston. Two were returned
to him but the other four were kept in Kingston for government use.[42]
October 23,
1813
On the Niagara
Frontier
A letter from Kingston reported that
the British had had great difficulty removing the sick during the British
retreat to Burlington Heights. The
bateaux available were in a bad state and could not be repaired even, if men
could have been found to row them. The
loss of supplies was regrettable but there would be even greater difficulties
moving supplies from Burlington Heights to York as the boating season would
soon end and the overland route was limited.
It was hoped that Major General Vincent would leave a lightly equipped
detachment, supported by Indigenous warriors and local militia, at Burlington
to guard the supplies being removed.[43]
The general later received orders to
remain and hold Burlington Heights.
Captain John Chisholm, of the 2nd
York Militia, reported that the Indigenous people, who had retreated with
General Proctor, had arrived at the Head of the Lake in October. Some were ordered to encamp on his farm in
East Flamborough Township. They took
possession of his twenty-acre meadow, cut his trees down to make shelters,
burnt his fence rails for firewood, and killed eleven swine, six sheep, and a
cow for food. Captain Chisholm felt it
necessary to remove his family and abandon his two dwellings to officers of the
Indian Department. The Indigenous people
remained on the property until the spring of 1815.[44]
Other families in the surrounding
townships had similar experiences as thousands of Indigenous people were
encamped on cleared farm land.
October 24,
1813
At Chateauguay, Lower
Canada
Lieutenant Colonel
Charles-Michel de Salaberry ordered Voltigeurs and militia to cut down trees
and make abatis on the north shore of the Chateauguay River to impede the
advance of an American army. Lower
Canadian farmers kept Salaberry up to date on the American’s progress.[45]
October 25,
1813
The Battle
of Chateauguary in Lower Canada
De
Salaberry’s Lower Canadian forces included the Canadian Fencibles, the
Voltiguers, and the Selected Embodied Militia.[46]
On the Niagara
Frontier
A small detachment of the 2nd
York Militia under the command of Captain Samuel Ryckman, and another
detachment, worked with teams on improving Dundas Street until November 9th.[47]
Lieutenant Ephraim Land of the 5th
Lincoln Militia reported that he was employed building barracks at Burlington
Heights until November 6th.[48]
October 26,
1813
Private Benjamin Smith was
transferred to Sergeant Duncan McQueen’s Detachment of the 2nd York
Militia to work on Dundas Street until November 24th.[49]
Benjamin wrote that they marched to
Andrew Miller’s and stayed there until November 23rd when they moved
to Oliver’s.[50]
On the St. Lawrence
River
James Pitts of Osnabruck Township in
Stormont County was captured by the Americans along with Francis Otto and
Mayhew Tupper. James was escorting a
brigade of boats on the St. Lawrence River from Osnabruck to Fort
Wellington. They took his rifle, two
coats, a hat, shoes, and stockings.[51]
October 27,
1813
On the Niagara
Frontier
Michael Groat Sr. was working on
Dundas Street for two days as a private in Captain James Mordan’s Company of
the 2nd York.[52]
Michael arrived in Upper Canada in
1792 as the fifteen-year old African slave of William Davis, a Loyalist of
North Carolina. By 1794 he had obtained
his freedom and became a resident of Nelson Township. Family history had Michael born in the United
States about 1777. In 1842, he signed a
petition as a Tuscarora warrior.[53]
October 29,
1813
On the St. Lawrence
River
William Chisholm, a merchant of
Grantham Township in Niagara District, purchased a shipment of goods in
Montreal that was seized on this date by the Americans at the Rapid Place on
the Saint Lawrence River. The American
force was commanded by Major Woodford.
The shipment included cotton check, calico, cambric, flannel, and silk
fabrics, umbrellas, socks and stockings, bonnets, combs, Morocco slippers,
shawls, buttons, thread, liquor and wine, cards, razors, table knives, sugar,
tea, coffee, chocolate, allspice, pepper, nutmeg, assorted plates and bowls,
tea cups and saucers, pitchers and jugs, tumblers, and pocket bottles.[54]
Wholesale values at Montreal were:
Umbrellas
at 5.5 shillings each
Socks at
2 shillings per pair
Stockings
at 3.5 shillings a pair
Silk
scarves at 30 shillings each
A dozen
combs at 20 shillings
A razor
for about 1.5 shillings
A loaf
of sugar for about 9.5 shillings
A pound
of tea for 10.5 shillings
A pound
of coffee for 1.5 shillings
A pound of chocolate for 2 shillings
A pound
of allspice at 1 shilling
A pound
of pepper at 1.5 shillings
An ounce
of nutmeg at 2.25 shillings
A gallon
of Jamaica spirits at 10.25 shillings
A gallon
of Cognac Brandy at 14 shillings
A gallon
of Port Wine at 12 shillings
October 30,
1813
At Odelltown, Lower
Canada
Major Joseph Francois Perrault and
300 militia occupied Champlain, New York in retaliation for American raids
earlier in the month. The Americans had
raided Odelltown on October 1st.
On October 10th, the major had issued a warning to the people
of Champlain that any further invasions by their militia would not be
tolerated. On October 12th
and 27th, Americans had attacked the British at Missisquoi Bay on
Lake Champlain.[55]
October 31,
1813
At York
Lieutenant John Lang of the 19th
Dragoons reported that very good quarters could be found at Jordan’s Tavern in
York where he had enjoyed a very good dinner of water fowl.[56]
During the month, Ely Playter picked
apples, finished his wheat, cleaned up his buckwheat, picked up the boots he
ordered from Mr. Chesney in September, bought some leather, found Mr. Ward’s
stray mare, repaired his oven, picked up his grist from the mill, and received
mail.[57]
In Oxford County
James P. and John Harris and Samuel
Lewis were searching for a cow lost by Elisha Harris in Oxford Township when
they found it’s skin in the camp of a party of Kickapoo warriors. They had known that some of them had been
hunting near Elisha’s farm.[58]
On the Niagara
Frontier
James Richmond and Danna Hartford
were employed to take a boat to Burlington Heights where they picked up women
and children belonging to the army and officer’s baggage. Bad weather forced the boat to shore where it
was wrecked on the shore near the Forty Mile Creek.[59]
Benjamin Smith’s diary was only
legible from October 13th to the end of the month. On the farm in Ancaster Township, they spent
a whole day looking for their lost oxen at the back of Bowman’s property,
cleaned up the rye, gathered apples and delivered a load of them to Davis,
hauled in corn and pumpkins, buried apples, began to make cider and pressed it,
thrashed oats, cut wood, and put up the sows.
Benjamin made trips to Choat’s, to
Burlington Heights twice, and to Joseph House’s from the burial of Charity on
the 24th. From the 21st to the 27th the
light horse stayed at Benjamin’s house.[60]
Benjamin served in Captain Peter Bowman’s Company of
the 5th Lincoln Militia from October 6th to 7th.[61]
Upper Canadian Service Deaths
Captain Joshua Booth, Addington,
casualty on duty, October 27, 1813
Widow Margaret Booth
Private David Ellis, Oxford, illness,
October 27, 1813
Widow Margaret Ellis
Teamster Jonathan Hager, 2nd
Lincoln, illness, October 10, 1813
Widow Azubah Hagar
Private David Hainer, 1st
Lincoln, illness, October 6, 1813
Widow Hariet Hainer
Private Joseph Hicks, Prince Edward,
illness, October 24, 1813
Widow Elizabeth Hicks
Sergeant Alexander Hutchins…, 1st Norfolk, disease,
October 9, 1813,
Orphaned children to John Buckhouse
Private Nazareth Spooner, Frontenac, illness, October 13, 1813
Sources:
[1] Capt. Wm. H. Merritt,
of the Provincial Light Dragoons, Journal of Events, Principally on the Detroit
and Niagara Frontiers, during the War of 1812, The Historical Society, B.N.A.,
St. Catharines, C.W., 1863, page 43.
[2] L. Homfray Irving,
Officers of the British Forces in Canada during the War of 1812-15, Honorary
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