Disposition of Troops in the Northern Frontiers
As we have observed, the favorite project of the administration continued to be the invasion and capture of Canada. For this purpose and for defence against invasion, the greater portion of the national troops were kept on the northern frontiers. The main British army in Canada, to defend it from invasion or to make aggressive movements as circumstances might dictate, was placed under the chief command of Lieutenant-General Drummond late in 1813, and he was stationed on the Niagara frontier. The command of the American army on that frontier was given to General Jacob Brown. General Wilkinson, who, with his troops, went down the St. Lawrence and into winter-quarters at French Mills late in the preceding year, remained there until near the close of February, 1814, when he broke up his encampment and marched with a part of the troops to Plattsburg on Lake Champlain. At the same time, General Brown with two thousand men, proceeded to Sackett's Harbor, preparatory to his departure for the Niagara River. Late in March, Wilkinson erected a battery at Rouse's Point, at the foot of Lake Champlain and on the border of Canada.
Wilkinson was informed that a considerable British force was about to be gathered at La Colle Mills, three or four miles below Rouse's Point. As he was preparing for a march on Montreal, he pressed forward toward La Colle with about four thousand men, on the 30th of March, to meet the approaching foe. He found there a stone mill, with heavy walls, strongly garrisoned with British regulars under Major Hancock, and learned that reinforcements were on the way. Wilkinson attempted to dislodge them before the arrival of the reinforcements, but did not succeed; and after a sharp engagement for about two hours, the Americans withdrew. The disastrous results of this affair (a loss of sixty-three men) brought Wilkinson into disrepute; and with this event his military career was ended. He was tried by a courtmartial and acquitted, but he left the army. In the meantime the command of his troops had been given to General Izard.
During the winter and spring, the belligerents had been preparing to make a struggle for the mastery of Lake Ontario; and when the ice in Kingston harbor permitted vessels to leave it, Sir James Yeo went out upon the lake with a small British squadron and a force of about three thousand land troops and marines. On the 5th of May (1814) he appeared off Oswego, which was defended by a fort on a bluff on the east side of the harbor, with a garrison of only about three hundred men under Colonel Mitchell, and a small flotilla commanded by Captain Woolsey. Chauncey was then not quite ready to leave Sackett's Harbor. The object of the British was the seizure of a large quantity of provisions and naval stores at the Falls of the Oswego River, now the village of Fulton. They effected a landing, and after a sharp fight with the little garrison in the open field, the latter retired and the enemy took possession of the fort. The experience in that contest made the invaders cautious, and they did not venture to penetrate the country in quest of the coveted prize, but withdrew early on the morning of the 7th, bearing away with them as captives several citizens to whom they had promised protection.
On the first of July, General Brown was on the eastern bank of the Niagara River, at Buffalo, with a force competent, he thought, to carry out the orders of his government to invade Canada. His two brigades of infantry were commanded, respectively, by Generals Scott and Ripley; his artillery by Captains Towson and Hindman, and his small squadron of cavalry was led by Captain S.D. Harris. These were all regulars, and well equipped and disciplined. He had also a brigade of miscellaneous troops composed of New York and Pennsylvania volunteers, and between five and six hundred Indian warriors, embracing nearly the whole military force of the Six Nations remaining in the United States. The volunteers and Indians were commanded by General Peter B. Porter.
The first aggressive movement of the Americans was on the 3d of July, when Generals Scott and Ripley crossed the Niagara River to attack Fort Erie, situated on the Canada shore at the foot of Lake Erie, opposite Buffalo. It was the chief impediment in the way of an invasion of Canada in that quarter. But that impediment was soon removed by its capture. Scott crossed the river with several regiments and a corps of artillery, before the dawn of the 3d, and was followed by General Brown and his staff. At a later hour General Ripley crossed with some regiments, and the whole force invested the fort. Then Brown demanded its surrender, and at six o'clock the same evening, the American flag waved over it, and the garrison had been sent over the river prisoners-of-war.