Ezra Dean and the Sept. 17th American Fort Erie Sortie-- Part 2

British reserves rushed up and there was fierce fighting and drove the Americans out of batteries #2 and #3.  After a two hour engagement casualties for the Americans were 79 killed, 216 wounded and 216 missing (170 captured).  Of the missing, 46 others were probably among those massacred at Battery #2.

For the British:  115 killed, 178 wounded and 316 missing, by their reports.  The Americans claimed to have captured 382 (11 officers and 371 enlisted).

Three British siege guns were destroyed at Battery #3, but the Americans were unable to spike the ones at Battery #2.

Looking at the casualties, these were high for the War of 1812.

Plus, the British commander had decided the day before to withdraw, so the battle really wasn't necessary.

As I said before, I was unable to find out exactly what Ezra Dean did in the battle.

--Brock-Perry

Ezra Dean and the Sept. 17, 1814, American Sortie at Fort Erie-- Part 3

From Wikipedia.

I was unable to find out exactly what Ezra Dean's brave and gallant service was at the battle, so looked up the battle and sortie to get an idea what Dean might have done.

The Battle of Fort Erie, Upper Canada, was one of the last and largest engagements of the War of 1812.

ACTION OF 17 SEPTEMBER 1814

On September 15, the British completed work on their Battery No. 3 at the western end of their siege line against Fort Erie.  This battery would enable them to enfilade the American defenses of the fort.  They could not be allowed to stay in this new battery, so at noon September 17th, American Brigadier General Porter's force of volunteers from the militia and 23rd U.S. Infantry (Dean was in the 11th U.S. Infantry).

Altogether the force consisted of around 1600 men.  They moved along a trail that led behind the British fortifications under the cover of a heavy rain and surprised them, capturing Battery No. 3

At the same moment, recently promoted Brigadier General James Miller led a detachment from the 9th, 11th (Dean's unit) and 19th U.S. Infantry Regiments along a ravine and attacked the center of the British line.  Attacked from both front and back, the British in the center Battery No. 2 also were captured.

More to Come. --Brock-Perry

Ezra Dean's Brave Conduct At the Sortie-- Part 2

Ezra Dean was appointed an ensign in the Army at age 19.  (I thought ensign was a Navy rank.)    He received honors for his brave and gallant service at the September 17, 1814, sortie by Americans from  Fort Erie, Upper Canada.  He was also at the Battles of Chippawa and Bridgewater and his regiment was in the advance at Queenstown Heights later in September 1814.

All of this came before he was even at the age of 20.

At the close of the war, he was put in command of a revenue cutter in Lake Champlain for two years.

He resigned after that and was assigned to the corps of government engineers and spent several years establishing the boundary lines between Maine and the province of New Brunswick, Canada.

--Brock-Perry

Ezra Dean's Brave Conduct at Yesterday's Sortie-- Part 1

From Find-A-Grave.

I accidentally came upon this name earlier this week while writing about the song "Lorena" in my Saw the Elephant Civil War blog.  "Lorena" was  a poem written by Henry DeLafayette Webster about his broken engagement to the love of his life Ella who later married an Ohio lawyer and Ohio Supreme Court justice.

She is buried at Woodland Cemetery in Ironton, Ohio.  When I went to the cemetery side on Find-A-Grave, I went through the notable burials and came across Ezra Dean's name who received a promotion to lieutenant in the American Army on October 11, 1814,  for his gallant service at the Battle of Fort Erie in Upper Canada (Ontario).

Further research showed his gallantry took place on the September 17th sortie against the British.

He had been appointed an ensign in the 11th U.S. Infantry earlier in the war.

After the war, he was elected a U.S. representative from Ohio's 18th District and served 1841-1845.

--Brock-Perry