Prelude To The Battle of Châteauguay

An account of the Battle of Châteauguay: ...(published in Montreal):

Not reflecting--for he seems to have had the information--that the wood was only fifteen miles or so in depth, the Canadians few in number, and that a short press forward would have brought him into the open country of L'Acadie leading towards Montreal, the American General [Hampton] in two days withdrew along the border towards Châteauguay Four Corners, alleging the great drought of that year as a reason for wishing to descend by the River Châteauguay. At the Corners he rested his army for many days.

When Hampton moved to Four Corners, Lieut.-Colonel De Salaberry, with the Canadian Voltigeurs, moved in like manner westward to the region of the Châteauguay and English Rivers.

De Salaberry was now ordered by him [Sir George Prevost] on the Quixotic errand of attacking with about 200 Voltigeurs and some Indians the large camp of Hampton at Four Corners.

On the 1st of October he [De Salaberry] crept up with his force to the edge of the American camp.  One of his Indians indiscreetly discharged his musket. The [American] camp was in alarm in an instant.

He...withdrew to Chateauguay... taking the precaution...to destroy and obstruct as much as possible in the path of the enemy.

 Acquainting himself also with the ground over which Hampton was expected to make his way into the Province he [De Salaberry] finally stopped selected and took up the position where the battle afterwards took place.

Detroit Reclaimed

Interesting events ...:

[September 29] 1813 Detroit....

"On August 16, 1812, it was surrendered by General Hull to the British army commanded by Gen. Isaac Brock. Detroit was reoccupied by the Americans on September 29, 1813, when the name of the fort was changed to FORT SHELBY The new name was adopted in honor of Gen. Isaac Shelby, governor of Kentucky, who raised a large body of Kentucky riflemen and marched to the relief of Detroit." [Source]

1813-14  War with the Creek Indians......

Major George Peter

Source

He [George Peter] was the youngest son of Robert Peter. He was born in George Town on the 28th of September, 1779. When only fifteen years old he joined the Maryland troops against the Whisky Insurrectionists (1794), but his parents sent a messenger to camp and General Washington, hearing of the matter, ordered him home.

At the beginning of the War of 1812, President Madison tendered him a brigadier-generalship, which the condition of private affairs compelled him to decline, but in 1813 he volunteered his services and commanded a battalion of "Flying Artillery."

Among the privates in this battalion were George Peabody and Francis Scott Key... .

Major Peter was one of the largest landowners and farmers in Montgomery County and carried on those farms up to the date of his death, which occurred at Montanvert, near Darnestown, June 22, 1861. He was nearly eighty-two.

Map Of The Northwest In The War

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Lost Spies

From A journal containing an accurate and interesting ...;

[Sept. 26th. [1812] Two white men, and Capt. John (an Indian who was with us), lost their horses. They continued about the camping ground in search of them; they saw two or three Indians exploring our encampment. They took this method, no doubt, to calculate our number. The spies returned to camp this evening, who had discovered many Indian signs in front. Five of the spies who had yesterday started with the view to go to Fort Defiance, were found on the road shot, scalped, and tomahawked by the Indians or British.

Other entries from Elias Darnell's Journal here and here.  

On Commodore Chauncey's Ship

Representative Ship From Teddy Roosevelt's Book

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Rear-Admiral Joshua R. Sands, U.S.N....served on board Commodore Chauncey's ship Oneida in the attack on Kingston, Lake Ontario, November, 1812; also at capture of Little York (Toronto) April 27, 1813; present and took part in capture of Fort George, Niagara River, town of Newark and its dependencies; May 27, 1813, took part in various engagements with British squadron, particularly that of September 25, when serving on board the General Pike.

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Map Of East End Of Lake Ontario

Page 19

Early Amherstburg

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"...to search the title to Lot No. 11, First Street, or Lot No. 3 on Dalhousie Street, in the Town of Amherstburg.  This lot fronts on what is still known as Dalhousie Street, the main street in the town, and on the southeast corner of said street and Gore Street, and about ____ yards from the remains of the old fort.  I found that this lot, or rather a portion of it, was conveyed by deed dated July 22nd, 1799, by Richard Pattinson and Co., of Sandwich, merchants, and is described as 'the undivided half....being in the Town near the Garrison of Amherstburg, and containing 30 feet in front by 120 feet in depth, with the dwelling-house and stable erected thereon.'  In the deed which follows this, dated 23rd September, 1808, from Robert Innes to William Duff... ." [Source]

"...three different forts had been constructed, or partly constructed, at Amherstburg at different times, and that the first was officially known as Fort Amherstburg, the second was known both as Fort Amherstburg and as Fort Malden, and that the third, constructed subsequent to 1837, bore the name Fort Malden." [Source]

Pre-War Impressment

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The travels and adventures of David C. Bunnell:...:

Captain Martin McClellan

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McClellan, Martin.  Capt.  1st Lincoln Militia.

Deserters in his Company, ordered to be sent down by Col. Claus

Niagara.  8-11-1812.

Major Wm. (?) Robertson to Ensign James Secord.

C.1203  1/2 A.   p. 93

General Brown's Headquarters

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[General Jacob] Brown's Head-Quarters

Same headquarters?

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Canada's Pre-War Vast Wilderness

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From Travels through Canada...in the years 1806, 1807, and 1808....:

The province of Upper Canada [now Ontario], which has borne the chief brunt of this unnatural contest [the War of 1812], was before the former war, nearly one vast wilderness: a few forts and small settlements for the convenience of the fur trade, were all that relieved the gloomy appearance of interminable forests and immense lakes. Since the conclusion of war, the settlement and cultivation of Canada have been an object of much attention on the part of the British Government.

The Entire Want Of Preparation

Source

Mr. Henry Adams in his second volume of the " History of the United States" devotes two chapters to the events connected with the surrender of Detroit in 1812, in which he shows the entire want of preparation with which President and congress, under the influence of Henry Clay and others, rushed into a conflict with the veterans of England on land, and her thousand war-ships on the ocean; and the imbecility of the war
department, of its chief Dr. Eustis, and the poor organization of the small army which was scattered over an immense territory on garrison duty, while new regiments not yet raised were relied upon for the conquest of Canada. He says, " The senior major-general and commander-in-chief was Henry Dearborn, the other major-general was Thomas Pinckney. The brigadiers were James Wilkinson, Wade Hampton, Joseph Bloomfield, James Winchester, and William Hull."

Richmonds In War of 1812

Adam Richmond enlisted in the War of 1812, with his brother Ezra, and they were the first of the ill-fated volunteers who crossed into Canada.  They were under Gen. Dans [Davis]* of Leroy, N.Y.  "He was a straight-forward, energetic, industrious farmer, of good moral character, and strictly temperate in all things."  They lived at Greenbush, Mich.  [Source: JB Richmond book]

Again in September, while the war was in progress at and near Fort Erie, in Canada, news came to us that the British were about to attack the Fort and our troops there must be reinforced.
A sortie was made from the Fort September 17th...A man of our company named Howard was killed, another named Sheldon was wounded in the shoulder, and Moses Bacon was taken prisoner and carried to Halifax.
*In that sortie General [Daniel] Davis, of Le Roy, was killed, and Gen. Peter B. Porter was taken prisoner, and rescued again the same day. We came home after an absence of twenty-four days. [Source]

Adam and David Richmond were witnesses for Abram Butterfield's Pension Application for his War of 1812 service:

Source At Fold3

 "...of the aforesaid Captain Buell's Company or Lieutenant Butler's Company, viz: David Richmond, Adam Richmond, Thomas Howard, Caleb Cooley and Asa Butterfield, and that the aforesaid Thomas Howard, who died on his way to Halifax, Nova Scotia, at Quebec was a prisoner with me being taken by the British at the Battle of Fort Erie."

Correspondence From Camp Seneca

From the Western Reserve Historical Society. 'Biographical Notices and Correspondence ....

COLONEL MILLER TO MAJOR TOD.

CAMP MEIGS, Sept 12th, 1813.

Dear Sir: — If there is nothing at Camp Seneca or Sandusky for the 19th Regt, I wish you to have all the men belonging to the Regt at Seneca clothed, and all that will be able for the campaign, kept under the command of Ensign Mitchell until they join me. I am informed that there are a number of scattering soldiers of the 19th Regt about Seneca & Sandusky, exclusive of those now with Ensign Mitchell; some driving waggons and some In other Regiments, &c. If you can find any such, you will please to claim them, and attach them to the rest. The brave Capt. Nevung died on the 9th inst., and was buried on the day following. I believe the cause of his death was owing to his over fatiguing himself on his return to this place. He vomited nearly all the way from Camp Seneca, and was taken very bad the same night he arrived here.

Some of our Indians who went in the direction of Brownstown a few days ago, returned this evening, and informs us, that yesterday about 12 o'clock, they saw our fleet, and that of the British engage, and that the engagement continued until midnight. We are in great anxiety here to know the result.

I am with respect & esteem,

Your Obt Servt,
JOHN MILLER,
Col. 19th Infantry.

Major G [George] Tod, 19th Regt Infantry, Camp Seneca.

Citizen Soldiers In Maryland

Source

The Citizen Soldiers at North Point and Fort McHenry, September 12 and 13, 1814.

General Orders At Plattsburgh

Extracts From General Orders Issued By GEN. ALEX. MACOMB

At Plattsburgh, September 14, 1814 

"The Governor General of the Canadas and Commander in Chief of the British forces in North America, having invaded the Territories of the United States, with the avowed purpose of conquering the country as far as Crown Point and Ticonderoga, there to winter his forces with a view to further conquest, brought with him a powerful army and flotilla,--an army amounting to fourteen thousand men, completely equipped and accompanied by a numerous train of artillery and all the engines of war,--men who had conquered in France, Spain, Portugal, the Indies, and in various parts of the Globe, and led by the most distinguished Generals of the British army.  A flotilla also, superior to ours in vessels, men, and guns, had determined at once to crush us both by land and by water."

"The Governor General * * * appeared before the village of Plattsburgh, with his whole army, and on the eleventh, the day fixed for the general attack, the flotilla arrived."

From A List Of Pensioners...

Second View...

...of Commodore Perry's Victory.

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Last Formation....

...In the Battle of Lake Erie:

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Governor Shelby In Ohio

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Excerpted dated entries from the Rootsweb Kentucky message archives:

Movements of the Kentucky Militia   -   Aug. 17, 1812 Jan. 24, 1813

Between Kentucky and Canada

GEN. ISAAC SHELBY'S ORDERLY [ORDERS] BOOK

(Most days, just routine orders of the day; i.e., regulations)

Original in Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library

Aug. 16 Camp at George Town
Aug. 28 HQ Cincinnati

Sep. 2 Camp Lost Creek
Sep. 11 St. Marys HQ [entered out of order on Oct. 7]
Sep. 23 Camp Maumee 33 Miles from Ft. Wayne


A reference to Governor Shelby's correspondence and St. Mary's in September:

Source

Also see Shelby's Campaign To Canada.

We Have Met The Enemy; And They Are Ours

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Poem Celebrating Perry's Victory

From Songs, Odes, and Other Poems On National Subjects: Naval:

And bid them remember

The tenth of September,

When our eagle came down from her home in the sky,

And the souls of our ancients were marshall'd on high.

Ships Of Perry's Victory

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Perry's Victory On Lake Erie

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Battle Of Plattsburgh

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The Cause Of Many Errors

Source - Chauncey Was Not The Cause Of Many Errors

See another post from his journal here.

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

We had now assembled about 6000 men, aided by Commodore [Isaac] Chauncey's fleet, and they were about 3000, and their fleet not on the Lake. We now had the experiment to repeat, of sending superannuated men of the Revolution to command. As the failure of the aged Patroon, General Van Rensselaer, lost us everything in 1812, so was the age and infirmity of General Dearborn the cause of many errors.

The Hero Of Fort Harrison

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From Fort Harrison on the banks of the Wabash, 1812-1912, by Fort Harrison Centennial Association:

"...September 4, 1812, this Fort was commanded by Captain Zachary Taylor, who had about fifty men under his command, less than a score of whom were available for military duty, the others having been incapacitated by sickness."

"All facts go to show the attacking Indians were an adjunct to the British plan to exterminate Fort Harrison. Captain Taylor's conduct on that trying night was characteristic of his entire life--he superintended every detail of the defense. His heroic conduct won for him the rank and title of Major by brevet, an unusual thing in Indian warfare."

See A Sketch Of Fort Harrison and Fort Harrison.

Robert Yost's Book

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An excerpt:

Battle Of Baltimore

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See the Wikipedia take on the Battle of Baltimore here.  

Also see Attack Upon Fort McHenry, Rodger's Bastion, Baltimore and Defender's Day In Baltimore.

Sir Humphrey Le Fleming Senhouse; His Pre-War Years

The Gentleman's Magazine (London, England), Volume 170

Sir Humphrey was the third son of the late Sir William Senhouse, Surveyor-General of Barbadoes ,and of Nether Hall in Cumberland, by Mary, second daughter and coheiress of Joseph Ashley, of Ashby Ledgers, esq. High Sheriff of Northamptonshire in 1788. He entered the navy at an early age, and when midshipman was present at the capture of Surinam in 1799.

...appointed by Sir Alexander Cochrane...