December 30, 1813: The British Get Payback for York and Newark

DECEMBER 30, 1813

British troops burned Buffalo, New York, during the War of 1812.

They also burned the nearby and competing village of Black Rock.

This was partially in retaliation for the American burnings of York (then capital of the British Upper Canada colony and now the city of Toronto) and the village of Newark earlier in the year.

Of course, this was 8 months before Washington, D.C. was burned by the British, also in retaliation for the American burnings.

Mean, mean War.  --Brock-Perry

Haunted Buffalo-- Part 2: Burned in the War of 1812

Even though the attempt was made to surrender the village of Buffalo, the British soldiers were to have their revenge for the Newark and York burnings.  They set the town ablaze and the flames made quick work of nearly all the 150 structures that made up Buffalo back then.

They also burned the neighboring community of Black Rock.

The British returned to Canada with 130 prisoners  They lost 31 men and the Americans  50 in the Battle of Buffalo.

When the fires ceased, all  that remained was the "stone jail, Reese's blacksmith shop and the house of Margaret St. John.  Within a week of the attack, the residents of Buffalo began to rebuild.

--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

Another HMS Detroit-- Part 3: Recaptured By the Americans

On 9 October 1812, an American boat expedition led by Lt. Jesse D. Elliott captured both the HMS Detroit and Caledonia while they were anchored right under the guns of British Fort Erie.  They were able to successfully get the Caledonia away and back to the American base at Black Rock, New York.

But the larger HMS Detroit, owing to light wind was swept down the Niagara River's strong current and under British guns.  Elliott and his men manned the Detroit's guns until they ran out of ammunition.  They cut the cable and drifted down the river.

The ship grounded by Squaw Island within range of both American and British guns, whereupon Elliott and his men abandoned ship.  A force of British troops then boarded the ship only to be driven off with heavy losses.

Both sides fired at the battered hull until it caught fire and burned.

--Brock-Perry

Phineas Riall-- Part 3: Also Sacked Buffalo and Black Rock

On 30 December 1813, Riall's force recrossed the Niagara River again and repeated the deliberate destruction of Buffalo and Black Rock, New York, even though the Navy Yard and several other sites were legitimate targets.

5 July 1814, Riall commanded the Right Division of the British Army at the Battle of Chippawa.  he ordered his men to attack American General Winfield Scott's soldiers thinking they were just militia.  He was wrong, they were regulars. and this led to his bloody defeat.

On 25 July Riall again fought Scott at the Battle of Lundy's Lane where he was seriously wounded in the arm early in the battle.  While going to the rear he was captured by American infantry.  On December he was paroled and returned to England.

--Brock-Perry

The Battle of Buffalo-- Part 4: Casualties

British losses:  25 regulars, 3 militia and 3 Indians killed,  63 regulars. 6 militia and 3 Indians wounded.  9 regulars missing.  The Americans report taking five prisoners.

American losses:  50 killed, 52 wounded.  Among the dead was Lt. Col. Boughton.  Canadian newspapers reported 67 captured Americans, including Lt. Col. Chapin.

Also, the Americans lost 8 pieces of artillery.

--Brock-Perry

The Battle of Buffalo-- Part 3: Two Towns Sacked and Razed

Gen. Amos Hall then took personal command at Black Rock.  As dawn broke, he directed a heavy cannonade and musketry at the British.  Riall advanced at the center and sent troops to attack the American right flank.

When the right flank broke and fled off in a rout, Hall was forced to order a general retreat of the whole American army in order not to be enveloped.  The British followed all the way to Buffalo, two miles away.  There they sacked and burned every building but four, destroyed the navy yard as well as three armed schooners: the Chippawa, Ariel and Little Belt.

They then returned to Black Rock and there they did the same to all but one building.

--Brock-Perry

The Battle of Buffalo-- Part 2: An Earlier Action Preceding the Battle of Black Rock

Lt. General Gordon Drummond was newly appointed Lt. Governor of Upper Canada, and was planning an offensive against the American side of the Niagara River.

In the early morning hours of December 18, 1813, a force under Col. John Murray captured Fort Niagara.  Another force under Major General Phineas Riall raided the American side of the river and destroyed Lewiston, Youngstown, Manchester and Tuscarora as well as small settlements around Fort Schlosser.

U.S. troops halted Riall and he recrossed the Niagara River, but with the intentions of attacking Black Rock and Buffalo.  With him he had 965 British regulars, 50 Canadian militia and 400 natives.  To oppose him, American General Amos Hall had more soldiers, 2,011, but they were all militia.

Riall crossed the Niagara River around midnight December 29, 1813, two miles downstream (north) of Black Rock, and easily effected a landing, driving a few Americans away.  General Hall then sent militia to investigate the fighting, but they were quickly driven off.

--Brock-Perry

Amos Hall-- Part 3: Loss of Buffalo and Later Life

Daylight of December 30, 1813, found Gen. Amos Hall's force marching to Black Rock with 1,200 militia and some Seneca Indian warriors.  This force attacked the British and did well until Hall ordered a withdrawal to prevent them from being enveloped by the British.

At this point, all discipline among the militia disintegrated and it turned into a rout.  The British took Black Rock and burned the entire village.

Hall now had some 800 men at nearby Buffalo and they lost that as well.  The British proceeded to burn the town as well as five ships tied up there.  Hall had at least 140 casualties in this action.

General Hall was subsequently blamed for the losses at Black Rock and Buffalo and removed from command in early winter 1814.  He remained with the militia until 1818 when he resigned with the rank of major general.

The rest of his life he was a prominent citizen of western New York until his death in West Bloomfield on December 28, 1827.

--Brock-Perry

Amos Hall-- Part 2: Lost the Battle of Black Rock (Also Called the Battle of Buffalo)

Amos Hall's militia force was inexperienced, poorly trained and poorly equipped to face the veteran British soldiers who were coming at them.  (However, Hall had been their commander so has to take some of the blame for their being poorly trained.)

Meanwhile, in Canada, Lt. General Sir Gordon Drummond was planning attacks on Buffalo and nearby Black Rock in retaliation for American General George McClure's destruction of Newark in Upper Canada a short time earlier.

By December 28, 1813, Amos Hall had deployed his American militia units inside of and along the periphery of Black Rock.  That night, British troops crossed the Shogeoquady Creek and Hall's militia fled.  American losses in the action amounted to around 800, most of whom had deserted or were in hiding.

Not a very good effort on the American side for this action.

--Brock-Perry

Amos Hall-- Part 1: Thrown Into the Fight

From the Encyclopedia of the War of 1812.

Helped form the local militia in New York and held commissions in it for many years before the War of 1812.  Saw limited action in the early stages of the war, but became a brigadier general.

When the the highly unpopular Brigadier General George McClure was removed from command on the Niagara Frontier in mid-December 1813, Hall succeeded him on December 25.

Fearing a British attack on Buffalo, Hall arrived the following day and established his headquarters between Buffalo and Black Rock in hopes of defending both, but he lacked the troops and resources to do it.

--Brock-Perry

Squaw Island: Time to Change the Name

From Nov. 23, 2014, Buffalo (NY) Rising by Bennett Collins.

Located in Buffalo's Black Rock neighborhood, Squaw Island in the Niagara River is home to several parks and the Bird island Pier.

It was a significant historical site for the Underground Railroad and a battle site during the War of 1812.

I have come across the name Black Rock in connection to the war, but don't remember a battle taking place there.

It was named that by men of LaSalle's expedition in 1679.  It was also the site of the beaching and burning of the British warship HMS Detroit during the war.

However, the name has to do with the "dark history" of U.S. and Indians.  But, it is a slam against Native women.

Of course, this also has to do with the current battle with the name Washington Redskins and the like.

--Brock-Perry

War of 1812 Timeline: December 19-30, 1863: American Towns Burned in Retaliation for Niagara, Upper Canada

DECEMBER 19TH-30TH, 1813:

 British and First Nation allies fight American troops at Lewiston and Fort Schlosser, burning the communities of Lewiston, Tuscarora settlement, Black Rock and Buffalo, all in New York, in revenge for the burning of Niagara, Upper Canada.

On 19 December, a force of British troops and First Nations defeated American Militia at Black Rock. On the 30 December, the U.S. militia force under Major General Amos Hall were defeated near Buffalo.

The British burned the American towns in punishment for what happed on December 10th at Niagara.

Over 300 American houses were burned, and the whole frontier from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie was depopulated.

Four armed U.S. schooners were also burned, and a large quantity of military stores and weapons captured or destroyed. At Lewiston, NY, a large number of American civilians were killed by First Nations.

The attack on the American Tuscarora settlement brought the Tuscarora Indians in on the side of the United States.

Some Mean Fighting Going On.  --Brock-Perry

Some Facts About the War of 1812-- Part 2

** Major John Norton had a Cherokee father and Scottish mother and deserted the British Army to live with the Mohawks. He sided with the British at the Battle of Queenston Heights and scared the Americans with his fierceness.

** There were attrocities on both sides. Reportedly, after his death, Tecumseh's body was cut up for souvenirs.

**  The U.S. burned York, the capital of Upper Canada because the British had done the same to Lewiston, Black Rock and Buffalo.

--Brock-Perry

Commodore Isaac Chauncey Plaque To Be Unveiled

From the Oct. 5, 2012, Bridgeport (Ct) News.

The official unveiling of a plaque dedicated to this naval officer will be at his boyhood home at 150 Seabright Avenue in Black Rock on Saturday Oct. 13th and the day has been declared to be the "Isaac Chauncey Day" in Bridgeport.

Commodore Chauncey was born in 1772 in Black Rock and was a Great Lakes naval commander during the War of 1812 after also fighting against the Barbary Pirates.  He was later President of the Board of U.S. Naval Commissioners from 1837 to his death in 1840.

Never Heard of Him.  --Brock-Perry