Expedition against Montreal

Chauncey, meanwhile, had been busy on Lake Ontario, after leaving the mouth of the Niagara River. While at Niagara he heard of the appearance of a British fleet on the lake and its menace of Sackett's Harbor, when he immediately weighed anchor and sought the enemy. He crossed the lake, looked into York, and ran for Kingston; but not meeting with the British fleet, he went to the Harbor, where the embers of the late conflagration were yet smouldering. The unfinished big vessel on the stocks there had been saved, and she was speedily finished and named General Pike. But it was late in the summer before she was fully equipped and manned. The keel of a fast-sailing schooner, called the Sylph, was laid by Eckford at the Harbor, and was launched late in July.

For several weeks the belligerent fleets were moving over the lake without coming to an encounter. Chauncey was seeking an opportunity to measure strength and skill with his antagonist, and Sir James Yeo, the British naval leader, was continually avoiding battle, for his superiros had instructed him to "risk nothing." Chauncey had thirteen vessels built expressly for war. Finally, on the 7th of July, they were in sight of each other. There was a stiff breeze and they manoeuvred all day, each trying to obtain the weather-gage. At night there was a dead calm, and Chauncey, by the use of sweeps, gathered his vessels in close order. At midnight, fitful gales swept over the lake. Suddenly a rushing sound was heard at the rear of the American fleet, and it was soon ascertained that a terrific squall had capsized two of the vessels, and all on board had perished except sixteen men. The next day there was light skirmishing; but the summer wore away without bloodshed on the lake, Sir James continually expressing a desire to "fight the Yankees."

Finally, on the 18th of September, Chauncey, who had been sent to Niagara to convey troops to Sackett's Harbor, went out to attack the British fleet which had followed him. He compelled the baronet to fight or cease boasting. A sharp battle ensued between the Pike and the heavier vessels of the enemy, but it did not last long. When the smoke of the conflict was cleared away, it was found that the Wolfe, Sir James Yeo's flag-ship, was too much bruised to fight any longer, and was hurrying away before the wind, with crowded canvas, covered in her retreat by the Royal George. The enemy fled westward to Burlington Bay, pursued by Chauncey, but a rising gale made it prudent for the latter to return to Niagara. The British vessels soon made their way to Kingston; and Chauncey, returning to the Harbor, did little more during the returning to the Harbor, did little more during the remainder of the season, than to watch the enemy and to assist the army in its descent of the St. Lawrence.

It had been determined by Armstrong and Wilkinson, in council at Sackett's Harbor, that the latter should lead an expedition down the St. Lawrence to attack Montreal. While preparations for this enterprise was in progress, the right wing of the army, under under General Hampton, had been put in motion to co-operate with the forces on the St. Lawrence. At the middle of September, Hampton had gathered at Cumberland Head, near Plattsburg, four thousand effective infantry, a squadron of cavalry, and a well-appointed train of artillery. He moved forward, and on the 24th encamped on the Chateaugay River, not far from the present village of Chateaugay in Franklin county, N.Y., where he awaited further orders.

At the middle of October, the troops destined for Montreal embarked at Sackett's Harbor, and at the same time Hampton was ordered to make his way to the St. Lawrence at the mouth of the Chateaugay, to co-operate with them. The flotilla of open boats was terribly smitten by a gale. The vessels were dispersed, and much property was lost. The troops rendezvoused on Grenadier Island, except some under General Brown that pushed forward to French Creek, now Clayton, where, on the afternoon of the 1st of November, they had a sharp fight with British schooners and gun-boats filled with infantry. In the meantime snow had fallen to a considerable depth, and a Canadian winter was near. The troops went forward from Grenadier Island, and the combined force left French Creek at dawn on the morning of the 5th of November, in about three hundred boats. It was clear and cold. The banners were all folded, and the music was silent, for they wished to elude the vigilance of the British, who, until then, did not know whether Kingston or Montreal was the destination of the expedition. But the Americans were discovered and were pursued by a heavy armed galley and gun-boats filled with troops, through the sinuous channels among the Thousand Islands. That evening the belligerents had a fight by moon-light in Alexandria Bay, and land troops from Kingston reached Prescott before Wilkinson arrived at Ogdensburg. The latter disembarked his army just above that village, and marched around to a point below to avoid the batteries on the Canada shore. In the meantime General Brown had successfully taken the flotilla past the batteries at Prescott, and the forces were reunited at a point four miles below Ogdensburg.