Butler's Barracks, Canada-- Part 2: Named for John Butler and Training Site for Many Wars

By 1854, the site was known as Butler's Barracks, named in honor of John Butler who commanded Butler's Rangers, Loyalist soldiers who founded the town of Niagara towards the end of the American Revolution. Also, by 1854, there were twenty buildings on the six acre site, surrounded by an extensive log palisade.

Buildings included the Commissariat, Officer's Quarters, the Commandant's Quarters, the Hospital (former Indian Council House), a fuel yard and storehouses.

The site was transferred to the new Dominion of Canada in 1871 and it was used as a summer training camp for both regular and militia units.  Soldiers who were trained here served in the Boer War, World War I, World War II, the Korean Conflict and peacekeeping efforts in the 20th century.

Today, Butler's Barracks commemorates over 150 years of Canada's military history.  Four original British colonial buildings and one Canadian built structure remain on the site.

A Place For many Wars.  --Brock-Perry

Butler's Barracks, Canada-- Part 1: Used for Indian Negotiations, Destroyed in War of 1812

From Friends of Fort George.

BUTLER'S BARRACKS NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE

Prior to the War of 1812, the area to the west of Fort George was used by the British Indian Department.  It was a branch of the British Crown and functioned as an embassy to the Indians in the region.  Treaties and military alliances were  negotiated, concerns raised and issues resolved.

The Indian Council House, residences and storage facilities stood here until they were destroyed in the War of 1812.  They were rebuilt and used until 1822.

Following the war, the British began work on new barracks and storehouses, making sure they were out of range of American guns.

--Brock-Perry

Those Vietnam War Veterans!!!

Raise a toast to them.  That was one long and hard war.

11.   11,465 were less than 20 years old.

12.  From 1957 to 1973, the National Liberation Front assassinated 36,725  South Vietnamese and abducted 58,499.  Death squads concentrated on leaders that included teachers and minor officials.

13.  The number of North Vietnamese who were killed  was approximately 500,000 to 600,000..  Casualties: 15 million.

14.  One out of every ten Americans who served in Vietnam was a casualty.   Although the percentage who died  is similar to other wars, amputations or crippling wounds were 300 percent higher than in World War II.  75,000 Vietnam veterans are severely disabled.

Fort George, Canada-- Part 5: The Town of Niagara Sacked

On December 10, 1813, Gen. George McClure ordered a retreat of the American forces across the Niagara River.  In addition, he also ordered the destruction of the Canadian town of Niagara.  When the British arrived on the scene, they were met with a horrifying sight.

Captain William Hamilton Merritt of the Provincial Dragoons recalled that "nothing but heaps of coals, and the streets full of furniture... met the eye in all directions."  About 130 homes had been put to the torch, and some 400 townspeople, mainly women, children and elderly men) were left without shelter.

Fort George remained in British hands for the rest of the war.  During the American occupation, parts of Fort George had been rebuilt and the British also continued to rebuild.  But by  the 1820s, Fort George was essentially in ruins.  The British Army abandoned the fort  in favor of Butler's Barracks and Fort Mississauga.

In the 1930s, Fort George was reconstructed to its pre-1812 configuration under the guidance of the Royal Engineers, and designated a National Historic Site of Canada.  Today, visitors can tour the blockhouses where common soldiers and their families shared cramped living space, the  more elegant officers quarters

The stone powder  magazine, which survived the attack, is the only structure that is original to the fort and the oldest building in Niagara-on-the-Lake (the new name of Niagara).

--Brock-Perry

Fort George, Canada-- Part 4: The Battle of Fort George and American Occupation

On the morning of May 25, 1813,  batteries at Fort Niagara and  along the American side of the Niagara River unleashed a devastating bombardment  on Fort George.  Almost every building within the fort was destroyed.

Two days a later, a large American invading force landed west of the mouth of the Niagara River.  The town of Niagara was turned into a battlefield  as the Americans pushed toward Fort George.  British and Canadian militia forces put up stiff resistance, but were heavily outnumbered.

Around noon, the order was given to retreat, and the British retired to Burlington Heights (located in present-day Hamiliton, Canada).

The Americans occupied Fort George for almost seven months, but failed to maintain a strategic foothold in Upper Canada following their defeats at Stoney Creek and Beaver Dams.  By December 1813 the U.S. forces at Fort George had dwindled down to a small handful of militia.

After an American scouting party encountered a large force of British on reconnaissance , the commanding officer at Fort George, Brigadier General George McClure of the New York militia,  feared an attack was imminent.

And, Then....  --Brock-Perry

Fort George, Canada-- Part 3: Built After Fort Niagara Turned Over to the Americans

This information from The Friends of Fort George  "The History of Fort George."

The British turned over Fort Niagara (on the American side of the Niagara River in 1796, in accordance to the Jay's Treaty of 1774, and the British immediately began construction of a fort on their side of the rive, Fort George, which was completed by 1802.  Its outer defenses included six large earthen bastions surrounded by a dry ditch.  Log blockhouses, a kitchens, a hospital, workshops, barracks, officers quarters and a stone powder magazine were constructed inside the walls.

The fort loomed over Navy Hall and commanded transportation along the Niagara River and served as the headquarters of the Centre Division of the British Army during the War of 1812.  Major General Sir Isaac Brock served at Fort George until his death at the Battle of Queenston Heights on October 12, 1812. The bodies of Brock and his aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Colonel John Macdonell were interred in the northeast bastion after the battle until moved to the first Brock Monument in 1824.

--Brock-Perry  (The Brock is for Sir Isaac Brock.)

Fort George, Canada-- Part 2: Only the Powder Magazine Remains of the Original Fort

Fort George was rebuilt by the Americans, but the British recaptured it  in December 1813 who held it for the rest of the war.

Several of the buildings were rebuilt  in the 1930s (although not historically accurate) such as the officers quarters,  soldiers barracks, officers kitchen and guardhouse.  The powder magazine (1796) is the only actual structure.

HISTORICAL MARKER

FORT GEORGE

Constructed by order of Lieutenant Governor Simcoe (1796-1799), Fort George served as the head-quarters for Major-General Brock in 1812.  In may 1813, it was bombarded and captured by the Americans who constructed fortifications of their own on the site.

These in turn were retaken by the British in December 1813.   In 1815, Fort George was described as "tumbling into ruins" and ordered abandoned.

The present works are a reconstruction done in 1937-1940, and represent the fort as it was 1799-1813.  Only the magazine of the original fort remains.

--Brock-Perry

Fort George (National Historic Site, Canada)-- Part 1

Fort George (National Historic Site)
Run by the Friends of Fort George.

(1796 - 1824)   By Niagara-by-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada.

Built with six earthen bastions with a palisade and a ditch.  It was the replacement for Fort Niagara, which was awarded to the United States in the 1783 Treaty of Paris and the 1796 Jay Treaty.

The Center Blockhouse was within the fort, and the North and South Blockhouses (1797) were used as barracks.  Another blockhouse was built in 1800 inside the southeast redan , adjacent to the powder magazine.

The fort was bombarded by Fort Niagara in New York, in a rare duel between opposing forts, and then captured by American forces in May 1813.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Mississauga and Stoney Creek Battlefield

FORT MISSISSAUGA  (1814-1870)

A two-story brick blockhouse.Keep, two powder magazines and earthworks were built to replace Fort George, which is still extant  on the municipal golf club property.  It was partially built with material from the Mississauga  Point Lighthouse that once stood here  from 1804 to 1814.

Garrisoned by 50 men in 1837.  The fort was disarmed in 1856, although troops were posted here again in 1861.

No public admittance to the blockhouse, but the grounds may be walked.

STONEY CREEK BATTLEFIELD

National Historic Site   Battlefield House and Museum

A British victory here  in June 1813 halted the American advance after the capture of Fort George.

The Battlefield House is the Gage House, built in 1795.  A 100-foot tall monument is also on the site.

Admission fee to park.  Operated by the City of Hamilton.

--Brock-Perry

Ancaster Barracks and Mississauga Lighthouse

From North American Forts, "Ontario Forts."

ANCASTER BARRACKS

(1812-1815)  Militia. Ancaster

Militia barracks were located on Wilson Street.  The current building on the site is probably not of the time period.

MISSISSAUGA POINT LIGHTHOUSE  NHS (near Fort George)

On the shoreline of the Niagara River in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, the site marks the site of the first lighthouse built on the Great Lakes in 1804.  Archaeologists believe there are remnants of the lighthouse below the eastern mortar bastion of Fort Mississauga, no above ground remains, though.

The hexagonal stone tower and  lightkeeper's residence was constructed in 1804 by military masons  of the 49th Regiment of Foot. It was damaged in the Battle of Fort George in 1813 and demolished by the British in 1814 when they built Fort Mississauga on the same site.  Local legend has the remains of the lighthouse being incorporated into the fort's tower.

--Brock-Perry

Burlington Heights Depot-- Part 2: A Strong Defensive Position

After the Battle of Stoney Creek (June 1813), the British erected three lines of earthworks across the peninsula, with gun batteries and blockhouses on the heights behind the depot and at the old Burlington Inlet.

A large stone powder magazine was built behind the second defense line.  Although the military continued to view this site the site as defensible following the end  of the War of 1812, the buildings were allowed to deteriorate, and today the site is occupied by various attractions, including the Dundurn Castle NHS (built 1832-1835) and part of the Royal Botanical  Gardens NHS.

The stone powder magazine was later incorporated into the  cellar of Dundurn Castle.  A stone marker and cannon (1914) is at the site of the first line of defense.  Another marker (1914) is located in Harvey Park.  Another stone marker (1914) is located at Hamilton Cemetery, with the excellent remains of earthworks there.

Of interest nearby  is the Hamilton Military Museum. in Dundurn Park.

--Brock-Perry

Burlington Heights Military Depot

From North American Forts "Ontario Forts."

Last week I wrote about this military camp in regards to the Ancaster Bloody Assize hangings.

It is a National Historic Site in Canada.

BURLINGTON HEIGHTS DEPOT

(1813-1815)  Hamilton

A British military supply depot and barracks established here after the fall of Fort George to  the Americans.  Several log barracks and a tent encampment were built on the heights.  Officers used the Richard Beasley brick manor for their quarters.

Storehouses were built below the heights  along the bayshore.

--Brock-Perry

New York Buys Land By Sackets Harbor

From the February 6, 2019, WWNY TV 7.

A historically significant 24 acres on Horse Island will become part of the Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site.  This takes in nearly the whole island.

During the War of 1812 it was a major U.S. naval shipyard and home port of the American Lake Ontario Squadron.

On May 29, 1813, a joint British-Canadian force attacked Horse Island but American forces on it held their ground but eventually were forced to retreat across a causeway to the mainland where they rallied and recaptured the island.

The newly added acreage also includes an 1870s lighthouse.

New York State Parks partnered with the American Battlefield Trust to make this acquisition.  The site draws 80,000 visitors a year and has re-enactors on site.

--Brock-Perry

Hamilton Markers: The Scourge and Hamilton

From HMdb.

"HAMILTON-SCOURGE PROJECT
WAR OF 1812 NAVAL MEMORIAL GARDEN

"We honour here fifty-three sailors who lost their lives  when their ships, HAMILTON and SCOURGE, capsized during a storm in the early morning hours of Sunday, 8th August 1813.  These two armed merchant schooners lie in  90 metres of water, 30 kilometres northeast of this site, intact, and perfectly  preserved with their guns and equipment still in place.

"A replica of the foremast of the SCOURGE is flanked by  fifty-three markers similar to those in Allied military cemeteries throughout the world."

These two ships were American.

--Brock-Perry

Burlington Heights Markers-- Part 3: United Empire Loyalists

UNITED EMPIRE LOYALISTS  (about 240 meters away).

"IN LASTING MEMORY OF THE UNITED EMPIRE LOYALISTS

"Who preferred to remain loyal British subjects and came to Canada in large numbers immediately following the American Revolution of 1776 and the signing of the Treaty of Peace in 1783.

"On this site in 1785 was erected one of  the first log houses in this district by loyalist pioneer Col. Richard Beasley who on June  11th and 12th 1796 here entertained Lieut. Colonel John Graves Simcoe the first Lieut. Governor of Upper Canada and Mrs. Simcoe.

"Unveiled July 1st, 1927 the Diamond Jubilee of the Confederation of the provinces of Canada on July 1st, 1867."

SIR JOHN HARVEY  (ABOUT .2 KILOMETER FROM MARKER)

SIR JOHN HARVEY  1778-1852

"From these heights , Lieutenant-Colonel John Harvey set out with 700 men on the night of June 5, 1813, to launch an attack  on an invading United States force of some 3,000 men camped at Stoney Creek.  His rout of the troops commanded by  Brigadier-General  John Chandler under cover of darkness in the early hours of June 6, is generally credited with saving Upper Canada from being overrun by the enemy.

"Harvey was knighted in 1834, served as Lieutenant-Governor of  New Brunswick 1834-1841, Governor of Newfoundland , 1841-1846, and Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia, 1846-1851."

--Brock-Perry

Burlington Heights Markers-- Part 2:

More markers on the Heights"

MARCH TO STONEY CREEK  (about 180 meters away from first marker).

"Theses ramparts were erected by British troops during the War of 1812-1815.  From this place on the night of June 5th 1813, 700 men  under the command of Lieut. Colonel Harvey, marched to Stoney Creek where they surprised and routed an American force of 3,750 men ridding the Niagara Peninsula of the invaders."

THE BURLINGTON RACES  (about 180 meters from the first one).

"On the morning of September 28, 1813, a powerfully-armed United States fleet comprising  ten ships under the command of Commodore Isaac Chauncey appeared off York (Toronto) .  The smaller fleet of six vessels, commanded by Commodore Sir James L. Yeo, was in the harbour, but on the approach os the enemy set sail to attack.

After a sharp engagement, the British squadron was forced to withdraw toward Burlington Bay where it could take refuge under the batteries on the adjacent heights.  A close chase ensued (hence, the Burlington Races), but by skillful seamanship, Yeo was able to bring his ships through the shallow channel in the sand-bar to the safety of the bay."

--Brock-Perry

Burlington Heights Markers-- Part 1

From HMdb  The marker at the site.

Written in both English and French (hey, it's Canada, you know).  Located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

"BURLINGTON HEIGHTS 11813-1814

"Here in June, 1813, General John Vincent assembled troops that made the successful night attack on the invaders at Stoney Creek.  From this point of vantage, in December, 1813,  the force that retook Fort George and carried Fort Niagara by assault, began its march.

"On these heights  stood the strong point of reserve and depot of arms for the defence of the Niagara Peninsula and support of the Navy on Lake Ontario."

Located next to it, another marker:

"This stone marks the line of earthworks in first line of defence 1812-1815."

--Brock-Perry

The Battle of Stoney Creek

From the Hamilton, Canada,  War of 1812  It's Happening Here.

1812 Sites in Hamilton

Battlefield House Museum and Park

On June 5, 1813,  around 3,500 American troops advanced as far as the Gage family homestead in Stoney Creek, now Battlefield House Museum & Park, and established camp for the night.  A surprise attack was initiated by the British in the early morning hours of June 6 from Burlington heights, where Dundurn Castle  now stands.

Seven hundred regulars from  the King's (8th) Regiment of Foot and the 49th Regiment of Foot were supported by  a small group of native warriors led by John Norton during what became known as the Battle of Stoney Creek.

During an intense forty-minute battle, the British captured two American generals and two field guns and forced the Americans to retreat.  This was the last time they advanced into the Niagara Peninsula during the war.

--Brock-Perry

Burlington Heights, Ontario (Site of British Military Camp)

From Wikipedia.

Burlington Heights  is a promontory of land about 330 feet above Hamilton Harbor in the City of Hamilton, Canada.  It continues as a peninsula north to the City of Burlington.  It was the location of a British military camp during the War of 1812.

The post was established on the commandeered property of Richard Beasley in May 1813.  There were batteries on the north and south ends, a magazine, sally port and earthworks.  Troops from the 8th (The King's) and 49th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's Hertfordshire Regiments of Foot were stationed there after being forced to retreat from American forces  advancing into the Niagara  Peninsula in May 1813.

From here, British forces under the command of General John Vincent and Sir John Harvey launched a successful attack upon a much larger American force early on the morning of 16 June 1813, at Stoney Creek.

It didn't mention it, but the hangings from the Ancaster Bloody Assize took place here.

After the war, the barracks of the base was used as a hospital for immigrants with contagious diseases.

--Brock-Perry

Ancaster, Upper Canada (Now Ontario): A Question of Loyalists and Americans

From Wikipedia.

Ancaster was mostly a wilderness society before the War of 1812, with American farmers moving north searching for arable land, some French-speaking fur traders and British immigrants traveling southward.

Also traveling north  in substantial numbers and in substantial numbers, around 11787 with the incentive of inexpensive land grants were the United Empire Loyalists still loyal to the British crown who were fleeing from the United States after the American Revolution.

Britain's promise of free land brought many people from the United States to Ancaster and the area around it who did not have the loyalist feeling of the others.

This would eventually lead to a series of defections, accusations and treasonous actions during the War of 1812 that led to the largest mass hangings in Canadian history, the Bloody Assizes which took place in Ancaster in 1814.

--Brock-Perry

The Bloody Assize of 1814-- Part 2: Those Executed Had Heads Cut Off and Displayed on Poles

The judges presiding over these trials were  Chief Justice Thomas Scott,  Justice William Plummer Powell and Justice William Campbell.  The  prosecutor was the attorney general for the province John Beverly Robinson.

Fifteen men were found guilty and sentenced to death.  Eight were hanged at  the Burlington Heights British military camp  on July 20, 1814, and their heads chopped off and displayed on poles.  The bodies were buried in  an unmarked grave near the gallows.

Seven others were banished.  Of those, three died of typhus while still in captivity and one escaped and was not recaptured.

The eight executed were  Aaron Stevens, Adam Crysler, Dayton Lindsey, Noah Payne Hopkins, George Peacock, Jr.,  Isaiah Brink, Benjamin Simmons and John Dunham.    Their possessions were confiscated as well.

--Brock-Perry

The Bloody Assize of 1814-- Part 1: High Treason

From Wikipedia.

A series of trials held at Ancaster, Upper Canada in 1814.  They resulted in treason convictions and subsequent execution of some of the men.

During the War of 1812, a number of Canadians living in the Niagara and  London Districts took up arms against Canadians and supported American raiders.  Many of these men, however, were American-born and later fled back to the United States.

In 1813, several groups of these men were captured and the following year nineteen were charged with high treason and charges were also filed against some who were not in custody and on the American side of the Niagara River.

In May 1814, a special court was established in Ancaster and a series of trials held in June.

--Brock-Perry

Ancaster Bloody Assize-- Part 3: Found Guilty and Executed

These men were found guilty and executed by hanging on June 20 1814 at Burlington Heights.

Dayton Lindsey
Noah Payne Hopkins
John Dunham

Aaron Stevens
George Peacock Jr.
Isaiah Brink

Adam Crysler

Nothing was mentioned in the article about what happened to the other men.

--Brock-Perry

Ancaster Bloody Assize-- Part 2: Found Guilty

Nineteen men were officially charged with high treason.  In sentences handed down June  7-21, 1814, these men were found guilty:

Jacob Overholtzer
Aaron Stevens
Garrett Neill

John Johnston
Samuel Hartwell
Stephen Hartwell

Dayton Lindsey
George Peacock Jr.
Isaiah Brink

Benjamin Simmons
Adam Crysler
Isaac Petit

Cornelius Howey
John Dunham
Noah Payne Hopkins

--Brock-Perry

Ancaster Bloody Assize 1814: A Series of Trials for High Treason

From the Canadian Encyclopedia by James A. Marsh.

The Bloody Assize were a series of trials conducted in 1814.  Nineteen Canadian men were accused of High Treason for supporting the Americans in the War of 1812.Most of the citizens of Upper Canada either fought in the defense of their colony or remained neutral, but there were men all over the province who sympathized with the Americans.

Some openly joined American invading forces, others crossed into the United States.

In November and December of 1813, Canadian militia captured a group of marauders  near Chatham, Ontario.  Among them were fifteen  residents of the province.  All of them were sent to York to be tried in the court (assize is a historical term applied to courts that periodically  administered civil and criminal law).

Canadians Not Happy With What They Considered Treason.  --Brock-Perry

Steps of a Traitor, Joseph Willcocks-- Part 5: Ancaster Bloody Assize Trials and Aftermath

The story doesn't end here.  In 1814, nineteen Willcocks supporters and pro-Americans in custody were charged with high treason to Upper Canada.  Others were likewise charged in absentia.  This became the Ancaster Bloody Assize Trials of 1814, held in Ancaster, Upper Canada.

As a result, eight of Willcocks' followers were hanged and seven others banished.

Joseph Willcocks himself survived only briefly, receiving a mortal wound at the Siege of Fort Erie that September.  His body was brought back to the United States.This was the last fight of the war between British and American forces on the Niagara Frontier.

Due to potential retaliation or even death after the Treaty of Ghent the surviving members of the Company of Canadian Volunteers settled in the United States.  Two of them were Benejah Mallory and , who took over command of the Canadian Volunteers after Willcocks' death, and Abraham Markle.

Daniel Wyatt concluded saying that Joseph Willcocks is buried today in  an unmarked grave in Buffalo "with neither side considering honoring the notorious rebel of questionable loyalties."

Evidently Not A Fan of Willcocks.  --Brock-Perry

Steps of a Traitor-- Part 4: Retaliation

When the British forces arrived on the scene of the smoking Newark,. they were enraged.  They took on the Canadian volunteers, killing two and capturing several.  Willcocks and the others got away.

In retaliation, Gordon Drummond crossed the Niagara River a few days later, captured Fort Niagara in a surprise attack and in the next few weeks, likewise torched several towns and villages, including Lewiston, Black Rock and Buffalo on the American side which they occupied until the war's end.

How many of Newark's civilians died in 1813 is not known, but undoubtedly many froze to death.

Shortly after his order to burn Newark, American General George McClure was relieved of his command and dismissed from the army.  Joseph Willcocks now had a price on his head.

A Traitor to Canada.  --Brock-Perry