Still Smoking At Sackets Harbor

"Colonel Macomb received orders to return with four companies of his Regiment, with all despatch, to Sackett's Harbour."

Source of 1849 Map...Sacket's Harbor, New York, and Kingston, Ontario, Canada was LOC

Map exhibiting the rail road, canal, lake, and river routes from New York and Boston to the west : via Ocdensburgh [sic] and Sacket's [sic] Harbor, N.Y.

"The magazine of stores, fired by our own officers to prevent its falling into the enemy's hands, was still smoking. But the precautions taken, and the instructions given, by Colonel Macomb, prior to his departure for Fort George, had produced their desired effect, and the enemy was defeated."

"Colonel Macomb relieved General Brown, then Brigadier General of the Militia. Colonel Backus he found in his quarters, who was suffering from a wound in the action, and died a few days after."

Source Of Text: Memoirs Of Alexander Macomb...

British Fort At Niagara

Source

"For the engraving of Fort George...Herriot's Travels, 1806...". 

Forts And Soldiers

Source

On Retreat From Fort George

British Military and Naval Records (RG 8, C Series) - INDEX ONLY
Microform: c-11837 [Image 5327]

McDonald, David.  Private.  Provincial Dragoons.

Re Horse taken by the enemy on retreat from Fort George, 14 - 6 - 1813.

C. 704. pp. 148, 147, and 131-159.

American Major Chapin

War of 1812: Board of Claims for Losses, 1813-1848, RG 19 E5A

Microform: t-1126

Statement...27 May 1813

At The Capture Of Fort George

Image 323

Statement Of Losses Sustained

Peter Carson, Cordwainer

Township Of Grantham

Damage sustained...by a party of militia and Indians commanded by Major Chapin of the United States Volunteers

12 October 1813

Signalled With His Gold-Headed Cane

From the Journal of Major Isaac Roach, 1812-1824, published in The Pennsylvania magazine of history and biography, Volume 17:

He [Colonel Moses Porter] gave the signal with his gold-headed cane. Bang! went the shot; and in less than ten minutes by my watch, the blockhouse was on fire. 

See another post from his journal here.  A second post, too.

A Substitute In The Army

Source

Rev. Thomas Henry, Christian Minister, York Pioneer, and Soldier of 1812, was written and published by his daughter-in-law, Mrs. P.A. Henry.

"Thomas Henry, his grandfather, professed the Quaker religion. He lived to have only two children, one daughter named Mary, and one son, John, who was the father of Thomas Henry."

"...in 1811 he set sail for America with his family...;their destination was...Little York, capital of Upper Canada."

"...the last [year] of the war, he hired as a substitute in the army, and did military duty until peace was restored. He was employed with others to guard a batch of American prisoners from Toronto to Kingston, and another to Fort George at Niagara."

"While in the Garrison in Toronto he received, as other soldiers did, besides the regular rations, an extra bottle of spirits on Saturday night for Sunday use. While others made merry over their bottle on Sunday, he sent his to a small grocery to be sold, and carefully laid by the proceeds." 

Marauding And Plundering

Source

General George McClure from a Canadian point of view, from The War of 1812, Volume 11, by James Hannay:

The retirement of the British from the vicinity of Fort George gave General McClure a free hand for the practice of the only species of warfare in which he was competent to shine---that of marauding and plundering.

American soldiers were quartered on the inhabitants of Newark and the farm houses in its vicinity were systematically robbed by McClure's troops. This general had offered the friendship and protection of his government to the people of the Province, but these fine sounding words proved to be without meaning. Friendship and protection were only for those who would renounce their allegiance and cooperate with him in the work of making Upper Canada an American state. All others who preferred to remain British subjects were to be dragooned into submission.

Bands of American banditti scoured the country, pillaging and destroying the houses of the inhabitants, and carrying off the principal of them to the American side of the Niagara River where they were incarcerated in filthy dungeons.

Newark, Ft. Niagara And Ft. George

Source

Petition Of Jacob Markle Signed By William Applegarth

Upper Canada Land Petitions (1763-1865)

Microform: c-2200

Petition #446c

1812

Fort George

8 February 1816

Certified that Jacob Markle a Private in the 2nd Regt. of York Militia served the time....in the Flank Company under my Command during the Summer of 1812 on the Niagara Frontier.....

William Applegarth

From The Gore District Militia of 1821-1824-1830 and 1838 ; [and] The Militia of West York and West Lincoln of 1804, with the lists of officers...:

William Applegarth was not a U. E. Loyalist. He came from Standrop, Durham, England, in 1791, and received the Crown Grant for the land in East Flamboro, known as "Oaklands." The first grist mill in the neighborhood was built by him in 1809, when sea salmon were plentiful at the Credit, and in his own mill stream. The mill was destroyed by fire in 1812.

His [William Applegarth's] wife was Martha Cooley, U. E. L., whose sister Mary (Polly) was the wife of Richard Hatt. John Applegarth, and his brother Joshua, followed William, their brother, to Canada in 1801, and John formed one of Capt. Samuel Hatt's company at Detroit in 1812. He opened the first store in the town of Hamilton after the war.

Lt. Col. George McFeeley

Lieutenant Colonel George McFeeley was the commanding officer at Fort Niagara, War of 1812, and issued the following report [excerpted below] to General Alexander Smyth as found in the Official letters of the military and naval officers of the United States, during the war with Great Britain in the years 1812, 13, 14, & 15 : with some additional letters and documents elucidating the history of that period .

Fort Niagara, November 25th, 1812.

Sir,

I beg leave to inform you that on the morning of the 21st instant, at 5 o'clock, a heavy connonading opened upon this garrison from all the batteries at, and in the neighbourhood of Fort George, which lasted, without intermission, until after sun-down. The garrison was not as well provided with artillery and ammunition as I could have wished; however, the batteries opened a tremendous fire upon them in return, with hot shot, admirably well directed.

An instance of extraordinary bravery in a female (the wife of one Doyle, a private of the United States' artillery, made a prisoner at Queenstown) I cannot pass over.  See related Doyle post.

Only two of the above men were killed by the enemy's shot, the rest by the bursting of a 12 pounder in the south-east block house, and by the spunges of the guns on the north block house, and at the salt battery.

GEORGE M'FEELEY

Below, date line Carlisle 24th March 1812, is McFeeley's acknowledgment of his appointment as lieutenant-colonel (from Fold3).

Source

Correspondence: Major Armistead To General Smyth....

Source

...regarding being engaged at Fort Niagara during its bombardment Nov. 21, 1812:

Major Armistead to Brigadier General Smyth
Lewistown November 22, 1812

Sir:

I left Niagara with the intention of seeing you, but finding my horse not able to proceed, I have declined going.  My business was to get, if possible, some ammunition for the garrison, as we nearly expended all we had yesterday, and which did the enemy great damage--destroyed one of their best buildings, and did the town considerable damage; sunk a schooner that was sent out of Genesee river, and dismounted several of their guns.

...but my greatest concern is, the want of provisions, which, if not supplied, we will inevitably have to evacuate the post.

I am sir, your obedient servant, W.K. ARMISTEAD

 Source

The engagement was also noted for the bravery of Mrs. Doyle (see more about her here and here).

Southerland Mayfield's Abstracted Pension File

Abstracts of pensions: soldiers of the Revolution, 1812 and Indian wars who settled the Blue Grass region of Kentucky ([n.d.]), by Lucy Kate McGee

Source

Mayfield, Southerland
Private   Amelia
Private  Captain C. H. Holder Company
17th U.S. Infantry and Captain Robert Edwards
Kentucky Militia
War of 1812  O.W. 23795
W.C. 22380 - Old War Invalid File 25646

"The above named soldier lost one foot during the War of 1812 to the heel and all of his toes on the other foot, signed -- Dr. John H. Wood and Dr. S. Willis"

The soldier participated in the Battle of The River Raisin.

MacDonnell, Brock's Fallen Aide

John Macdonell according to Wikipedia:

"Lieutenant Colonel John Macdonell of Greenfield (19 April 1785 – 14 October 1812) was an aide-de-camp to British Major General Sir Isaac Brock during the War of 1812, dying in the Battle of Queenston Heights."

Source - Lt. Col. John Macdonnell

From The Documentary History of the Campaign Upon the Niagara Frontier ..:

A song was written about Lieutenant Colonel John Macdonell entitled Macdonell on the Heights (also on YouTube).

General George McClure's Burn

General George McClure (1777 - 1851)

Military records concerning U.S. General George McClure were found in the British Military and Naval records (index) (also here through here) in the Library and Archives Canada.

McClure, George, Brig'r Genl. U.S.A.

G.O. To retain command of troops in Forts Niagara & George; returns of prisoners, provisions &c.; restrictions on persons coming within lines of the Army; & c.

Adjt. Genl's Office, Hd. Qrs. Newark, 2-11-1813.

THE WAR OF 1812: Writings from America's Second War of Independence (see review here) had a chapter entitled Cyrenius Chapin to the Buffalo Gazette , subtitled "The Case Against George McClure: Niagara Frontier, December 1813."

In December, General McClure abandoned Fort George in the face of advancing British troops, after ordering the fort and the neighboring Canadian town of Newark to be burned.  The British captured Fort Niagara and retaliated by burning towns in New York.  

A quote from The War Of 1812....book:  "A spirited resistance, led in part by Lieutenant Colonel Cyrenius Chapin, defended Buffalo, but dissolved when the colonel was captured.  Six months later, upon his release from a Montreal jail, Chapin published the following indictment of McClure's command in the June 13 edition of the Buffalo Gazette."

Capture Of Fort George Engraving

Source: Cassier's Magazine

Battle of Fort George.

Fort Holmes

This Fort was built while the British held possession of the Island in 1812 and 1814.  It was called by the British Fort George; in honor of the British king, afterward rechristened by the Americans in honor of Maj. Andrew Hunter Holmes, who was killed August 4, 1814, during an unsuccessful attempt by the Americans to regain possession of Fort Mackinac.  [Annals of Fort Mackinac]

A Canadian Company Of Blacks

Captain Runchey's Company of the First Lincoln Regiment:

Source

Engagements:  Queenston, 13th, Oct., 12. and Fort George, 27th May, 13.

Captain Robert Runchey, Sr.

             James Robertson

Lieutenant George Runchey

From Wikipedia:  On 3 March 1813, the unit was converted into the Corps of Provincial Artificers under the command of Lt. James Robertson, a black settler formerly of Detroit who had been a member of Butlers Rangers in the Revolutionary War as well as the Corps of Provincial Artificers before joining the Coloured Corps sometime before the Battle of Queenston Heights. While this might have appeared to be a backward step, the scarcity of the sundry skills required of Artificers meant that they were paid two to four times as much as they would have been as private soldiers.

From The Eve of War at NOTL museum:

Working under the direction of a white officer, Captain Robert Runchey Sr., thousands of volunteers fought for the British during the War of 1812. Niagara Blacks in Runchey’s unit included Pierpoint, brothers James and Humphrey Waters, John Delay, John Jackson, Robert Jupiter, John Saunders, and George Martin.

The blog, North End Journal, has a post about Runchey's men.

Quartermaster General Morgan Lewis

Source

US Army Quartermaster Foundation at Fort Lee, Virginia, featured a profile of General Morgan Lewis.


Another biography can be found here.

"In 1812 President James Madison offered him the post of Secretary of War, which he declined, and accepted the appointment of quartermaster-general of the armies of the United States. In 1813 General Lewis was promoted to the rank of major-general. He served on the Niagara frontier, captured Fort George, and commanded at Sackett's Harbor and French Creek. At the close of the war he advanced the funds that were necessary for the discharge of American prisoners in Canada."

He married into the Livingston family of New York.

General Alexander Macomb

Source

Alexander Macomb was born in Detroit on April 3, 1782, though he moved to New York and was schooled in New Jersey.

When however the war of 1812 broke out, he asked to be transferred to the artillery because there would be little opportunity of distinguishing himself in his old corps [of Engineers]. He was appointed a Colonel and given the command of the third regiment. ...in November 1812, Macomb was able to join the army on the northern frontier with his new command. Here he distinguished himself at Niagara and Fort George. In January, 1814, he was raised to the rank of Brigadier. The charge of the country bordering on Lake Champlain was now entrusted to him and it was here that he won the battle of Plattsburgh, one of the most gallant victories of the war. [Source]

He died on June 25, 1841.