Jesse Elliott, USN-- Part 4: Service in Lake Ontario and Back to Lake Erie

Jesse Elliott was then transferred to Lake Ontario where he served under Commodore Isaac Chauncey as captain on the flagship, the USS Madison,  and took part in the Battle of York on 27 April 1813 and the Battle of Fort George on 27 May.

He was promoted to master commandant in July and reassigned to the Lake Erie Squadron, to serve as Perry's second in command.  He felt Perry had insufficient combat experience and was particularly outspoken Perry's decision to use Presque Isle for his shipyard.   

The two me were on collision course at thus time.  No doubt Elliott was still smarting over being replaced in Lake Erie by Perry to begin the problems.

BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE

Then came the famous battle.

During the Battle of Lake Erie against a British squadron under Captain Robert Barclay on 10 September 1813, Elliott commanded the USS Niagara.  Perry commanded the Niagara's sister ship, the USS Lawrence.

--Brock-Perry

This Month in War of 1812: Forts Meigs and George, York and USS President

From the 2023 American Battlefield Trust May calendar.

MAY 1, 1813

**  Siege of Fort Meigs, Ohio.

MAY 1, 1813

**  American forces evacuate York, Upper Canada.  (Toronto today).

MAY 3, 1813

**  Burning of Havre de Grace, Maryland.

MAY 16, 1811

**  The American frigate USS President fires on British sloop HMS Little Belt.

MAY 27, 1813

**  Engagement at Fort George.

MAY 29, 1813

**  Battle of Sacketts Harbor, New York.

--Brock-Perry

Historic Fort George-- Part 10: 1828 to 1882

In 1828, the headquarters of  the British Army Centre Division was officially transferred to to York, Ontasrio.  At that time, Fort George was reportedly just a few "wooden decaying barracks."  In 1839, Navy Hall  was converted into barracks for the fort's garrison and the former barracks became stables.

During the 1860s, the British government took control of the military complex in the area which included Fort George, Fort Mississauga, Butler's  Barracks and the training common.  The ruins of the fort were intermittenly leased to a private citizen who acted as the custodian-tenant of te property.

During that period, structures in the fort were converted to other uses:  Officers quarters were incorporated into a farmhouse, the stone gunpowder  magazine used for storing hay and the property itself used for grazing cattle.

By the 1880s, the bastions and gunpowder magazine were in bad condition.

In 1882, the Wright family was granted a lease by the Department of Militia Defence, which led to the opening of a golf club in the area with the golf course occupying portions of the ruin.

--Brock-Perry

John B. Montgomery, USN-- Part 3

From American Military Leaders A-L by John Fredricksin.

JOHN B. MONTGOMERY

(November 17, 1794-March 25, 1874)

John Barrien Montgomery is best-known for raising the U.S, flag over what became San Francisco in the Mexican War..  A religious, Bible-quoting officer, he completed fifty years of service without  a single incident or  controversy to mar his  reputation.

Montgomery was born in Allentown, New Jersey, the second of three brothers.  All three joined the U.S. Navy just before the War of 1812 and enjoyed  distinguished careers.  Montgomery became a midshipman in June 1812 and ventured to Sackets Harbor as part of Commander Isaac Chauncey's Lake Ontario Squadron.

Attached to the schooner Hamilton, he participated in the November 10, 1812,  bombardment of Kingston, Ontario, before transferring to the brigs Madison and General Pike.  In this capacity, Montgomery fought during the capture of York (now Toronto), Ontario (Upper Canada at the time), in April 1813 and Fort George, Niagara,  the following month.

--Brock-Perry

John B. Montgomery, USN-- Part 2: War of 1812 Service

From Wikipedia.

He was born in New Jersey and entered service in the US Navy as a midshipman during the War of 1812 where he served during the attack on Kingston, Upper Canada, in Novenber 1812 and in the capture of York in April of the following year.

For gallantry and distinguished service aboard the USS Niagara at the Battle of Lake Erie, he received a vote of thanks and a sword from Congress.

In 1815, he served in Stephen Decatur's squadron in the Second Barbary War in the Mediterranean Sea.

From Geni.

He was also involved in the capture of Little York, Fort George and Newark.  In 1814, he was at the blockade and attack on Mackinaw Island in August.

--Brock-Perry

About That D.C. Tornado-- Part 1: Background of the Event

From the March 26, 2012, Historical Digression blog "A tornado saves Washington during the War of 1812" by Patrick Browne.

One of the first targets of the British reinforcement in America in 1814, was the capital of the United States, Washington, D.C., partly as a form of payback for American transgressions to the capital of Upper Canada, York (now Toronto), earlier in the war.  Also, the destruction of such an important city would also be a major blow to American morale.

Another factor was that these new British soldiers were veterans, having fought Napoleon all those years.

Some 5,000 British landed in Benedict, Maryland, and made short work of a larger American force at the Battle of Bladensburg, Maryland on August 24, 1814.    The road to Washington was now open.

Once in D.C., they burned  what is now known as the White House (after sitting down to eat a large feast that Dolley Madison  and her staff had prepared for  cabinet members before they were all forced to flee).

--Brock-Perry

May Events in the War of 1812: Fort Meigs, York, Havre de Grace, USS President and Sackets Harbor

From the May 2022 American Battlefield Trust calendar.

MAY 1, 1813

**  Siege of Fort Meigs, Ohio.

MAY 1, 1813

**  American forces evacuate York, Upper Canada (now Toronto).

MAY 3, 1813

**  Burning of Havre de Grace, Maryland.

MAY 16, 1811

**  American frigate  USS President fires on  the British sloop HMS Little Belt.

MAY 24, 1815

**  Battle of the Sink Hole.

MAY 27, 1813

**  Engagement at Fort George.

MAY 29, 1813

**  Battle of Sackets Harbor, New York.

--Brock-Perry

April Events During the War of 1812: Napoleon Abdicates, York Attacked and the Dartmoor Massacre

 From the American Battlefield Trust April 2022 calendar.

APRIL 4, 1814

**  Napoleon abdicates and is exiled to Elba off the coast of Tuscany;  Great Britain now concentrates on its war with the United States.  Bad news for us.

APRIL 6, 1815

**  Seven American prisoners are killed and 32 wounded in the "Dartmoor Massacre" at Dartmoor Prison in Devon, England

APRIL18, 1806

**  The Non-Importation Act passed

APRIL 27, 1813

**  Attack on York (modern-day Toronto);  General Zebulon Pike killed

APRIL 29, 1813

**  Raid on  Frenchtown, Maryland, by British flotilla under  the command of Admiral George Cockburn

--Brock-Perry

About Canada's First Catholic Bishop, Alexander Macdonell-- Part 2

Before he came to Canada, Alexander Macdonell  raised a Catholic regiment to defend British interests during the Irish Rebellion in 1798.  The regiment would be disbanded and its men left destitute, but Macdonell  persuaded the Crown to give them land in Upper Canada in return for their loyalty. 

Macdonell first settled in Glengarry near Kingston.  He went to the Upper Canada capital in York in 1806 and found that Catholics were few and far between.  The town had a population of 200 of whom less than a quarter were Catholic.  In all of Upper Canada, there were only three Catholic churches and three Catholic priests.

Macdonell reported to his superiors on what he had seen at York and was given the task of acquiring more land for churches in the town.  (Of course, York eventually became Toronto.)

A plot on George on present-day Adelaide would be set aside "for the purpose of erecting a chapel for public worship."  But, it was destroyed by fire during the War of 1812.  (Likely burned by American troops when they torched the town.)

--Brock-Perry

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

Just in Time for Halloween, Haunted Buffalo-- Part 1: Old County Hall's Dismembered Apparitions

From the October 28, 2020, Buffalo (NY) Rising "Haunted History: Old County Hall is at the center of Buffalo's most dramatic moments" by Daniel Lendzian.

THE WAR OF 1812

The Old County Hall is the site where Colonel Cyrenius Chapin surrendered  the village of Buffalo to the British on December 10, 1813, to British Lieutenant General  Gordon Drummond after American Brigadier General George McClure abandoned the village saying, "They may all be destroyed, and I don't care how soon."  (Nice guy.)

Drummond rejected Chapin's authority to surrender and proceeded to burn the village in retaliation for the American burning  of the British settlement Newark (Niagara-On-the-Lake) and previously having burned the Canadian provincial capital of York (now Toronto).

Much business is still done at the building today, especially in the basement.  Accordingly, every so many years there will be many people down there waiting for appointments and they will all come running up the stairs saying they had seen something that scared them.

They described apparitions as human bodies missing limbs.  Was the County Hall a burying ground?

Like Boo!!  --Brock-Perry

Amherstburg Royal Naval Dockyard-- Part 5: Royal Navy Takes Control and A Plan

During the War of 1812, the dockyard was first the base of operations for the Provincial Marine's operations on Lake Erie and Lake Huron and later the Royal Navy's.

However, due to the yards location at the far end of Lake Erie, supplies for it had to be shipped across the lake from Fort George and overland from Niagara Falls or shipped to York and Burlington Heights, transported overland to Long Point before being transported on the lake again to the yard.

In May 1813, the Royal Navy took control of all of the Provincial Marine forces and establishments on Lake Erie.  With the construction of superior American ships in 1813, , Commander Robert Heriot Barclay, the commander of the Royal Navy's Lake Erie Squadron and sought to defeat the Americans before they could cut his supply lines.

--Brock-Perry

Stephen Champlin-- Part 6: At York and Fort George

Stephen Champlin was appointed to the rank of sailing master on May 22, 1812; lieutenant on December 9, 1814; commander on June 22, 1838; captain on August 4, 1840 and commodore on April 4, 1867.

He was sent by Perry to the Great Lakes in 1813, in advance of Perry's main force.  Champlin left with 42 men and 2 officers and traveled by land from Albany, N.Y. to Sacketts Harbor on Lake Erie.  During the winter, he and his men fitted out the schooner Asp in preparation for an attack on Little York (Toronto) during which he was second in command.

After York, he took part in the Battle of Fort George.

After this, Perry ordered Champlin to Boston to try to secure men from the Bainbridge.  Upon return to Sackets Harbor, Chauncey asked him to go to Utica, NY, and collect a $36,000 draft and pay Mr. Van Rensselaer and return with the balance.

Two days after returning to Sackets Harbor, Chauncey ordered him to report to Perry with 3 officers and 71 men at Erie, Pennsylvania.

--Busy Guy.  --Brock-Perry

The Burning of Washington, D.C.-- Part 1: Brookeville, Md., U.S. Capital for A Day

From Wikipedia.

August 24, 1814

After the Americans were routed at the Battle of Bladensburg, outside Washington, D.C., on August 24, the British Army under General Robert Ross occupied the city and set about burning down a lot of buildings, including the White House, the Capitol and other government buildings.

This burning was partly in response to American sacking and burning of Port  Dover and York (Toronto today) in Upper Canada earlier in the war.  This marked the first and only time since the American Revolution that the nation's capital has been occupied by a foreign country.President Madison, military officials and other government people gad hurriedly abandoned the city as soon as they learned of the defeat at Bladensburg.

They made it to Brookeville, Maryland, and found refuge for the night.  Today, Brookeville bills itself as the "United States Capital for a Day."  Madison spent the night at the home of Caleb Bentley and the house still stands and is known today as the Madison House.

--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

Some More on Joseph Willcocks-- Part 2: He Turns

In the second session of the 6th parliament, held 25 February to  13 March 1813, it still appeared that Willcocks was behind Upper Canada.  Merchant William Hamilton Merritt described Willcocks as a "zealous Loyalist."   An old friend said Willcocks was  actively recruiting for an Incorporated Militia.

However, things changed after the capture of York in April 1813 and the invasion of the Niagara Peninsula in May.  The military situation stabilized after the Battle of Stoney Creek on 5 June 1813.  Certain people in the colony caused the military to impose harsh measures on those who opposed the government.  This caused Willcocks to lose faith in and turn against his government.

Sometime in July 1813, Willcocks crossed the Niagara River and offered his services to the Americans.

--Brock-Perry

Henry A. Hobart, USMA Class 1811, Killed At Capture of Fort George in 1813

From For What They Gave On Saturday Afternoon.

Born Maine.  Appointed from Maine.

Cadet of the Military Academy, Jan. 20, 1808, to March 1, 1811, when he was graduated and promoted to Second Lieut. , Light Artillery, March 1, 1811.

Served:    In garrison at Atlantic ports, 1811-1812; and in War (First Lieut., Light Artillery, Aug. 15, 1811) of 1812-1815 with Great Britain, being engaged in the capture of York (now Toronto), Upper Canada, April 23, 1813, and capture of Fort George, Upper Canada May 27, 1813, where he was killed while valiantly leading his company to attack.

Age 22.

I am unable to find out anything else on him.

--Brock-Perry

British Flag Captured in War of 1812 On Display at USNA Museum

From the April 6, 2018, Annapolis (Md) Patch  "British Flag Captured In War Of 1812 To Go On Display"

Viewing of a British Royal Standard flag will take place at the United States Naval Academy (USNA) Museum in Dahlgren Hall April 7.  It flew over York (now Toronto) Canada and was captured by U.S. forces during the War of 1812.

Both Congressional and Presidential Directives require the USNA to preserve and exhibit captured flags.

This will be the first time this particular flag has been seen by the public since the 1880s when it was "lost,"  The flag is 35' by 25' in size.

The museum has over 60,000 items and several War of 1812 flags.  Among its flag collection are 200 battle flags and over 600 flags altogether.

--Brock-Perry

York/Toronto Canada

From Wikipedia.

In 1793, Upper Canada's Governor John Simcoe established the town of York on the Toronto Purchase Land.  He moved Upper Canada's capital from Newark (today's Niagara-on-the-Lake) to York, believing it to be less vulnerable to American attack.

York Garrison (Fort York) was constructed at the entrance to York's natural harbor.

In 1813, the Battle of York ended with the capture of the town by U.S. forces.  The surrender was negotiated by York's John Strachan.  Americans destroyed much of York during a five day occupation which resulted in British payback with the burning of Washington, D.C..

York was incorporated as the city of Toronto (the Indian name for it) on March 6, 1834.

--Brock-Perry