Miller Worsley, RN-- Part 3: A Big Victory and "Lake Fever"

The Americans landed a superior force on infantry and attacked the HMS Nancy which resulted in the ship being burned.  Then Miller Worsley had his small command row 360 miles to Mackinac Island where he organized an attack against the two American ships blockading the place, the USS Tigress and USS Scorpion.

With the capture of both ships, as you can read about in my USS Tigress entries, this gave the British superiority  on Lake Huron for the remainder of the war.

Miller Worsley fell ill with "Lake Fever," a malady that struck many serving on the Great Lakes.  Worsley was able to perform no further naval service and was appointed commander with half-pay on 13 July 1815.

He returned to the Isle of Wright after the war.  From 1832-1834, he served as Commander of the Coastguard.  He died in 1835.

--Brock-Perry

Miller Worsley, RN-- Part 2: Defending the HMS Nancy

After the Raid on Fort Oswego, Worsley was appointed to head up the British naval detachment on Lake Huron, which actually only consisted of a small ship named the Nancy.  Worsley made his way overland to the base at Nottawasago Bay in July and took command of the only British naval vessel on the lake, the Nancy.

Conditions of the British garrison at Fort Mackinac were getting serious and Worsley needed to go to its aid with supplies and munitions.  But, there was a larger American force lying off the coast.  Knowing that the Americans would try to destroy the Nancy, Worsley tried to hide the ship by towing it upriver.

To protect the ship, he had a force of 22 sailors, 9 French voyageurs and 23 Indians.

--Brock-Perry

200 Years Ago: Seizure of the USS Tigress and Then the USS Scorpion

SEPTEMBER 3 and 4, 1814:  After the destruction of the British post on the Nottawasaga River and the schooner Nancy (during Sinclair's Expedition), Royal Navy Lt. Miller Worsley and his sailors escaped to Fort Mackinac which was blockaded by the Americans with two ships, the USS Tigress and USS Scorpion.

The Tigress was commanded by Stephen Champlin.

Worsley devised and executed a plan to capture the two armed vessels.  On Sept. 3, 1814, under the cover of darkness, he successfully boarded the Tigress with a contingent of seamen, soldiers and First Nations warriors.

Three days later, On Sept. 6th, he used the Tigress to seize the Scorpion.

Having lost the only British ship on the upper Great Lakes when the Nancy was destroyed, these two ships gave the British a small fleet on Lake Huron and reconnected Fort Mackinac with the upper Great Lakes supply route.

--Brock-Perry

200 Years Ago: HMS Nancy Destroyed

AUGUST 14TH, 1814:  The HMS Nancy is destroyed during an attack by the U.S. squadron under Captain Arthur Sinclair at the Nottawasaga River, Upper Canada.

One of the objectives of Sinclair's expedition to the upper Great Lakes was the destruction of British ships.  Unable to locate the British base on the Nottawasaga River, due to weather and unfamiliarity of the area, he burned the abandoned Fort St. Joseph and the fur trade post at St. Mary's River (Sault Ste. Marie).

After the failure to retake Fort Mackinac the expedition located the Nottawasaga bases and the schooner Nancy, the only British vessel on the upper Great Lakes.  An American landing party destroyed a blockhouse but the crew of the Nancy, commanded by Lt. Miller Worsley of the Royal Navy torched the vessel before it could be captured.

The Nancy's crew escaped to Fort Mackinac in open boats after the departure of Sinclair's squadron.

--Brock-Perry