Two Heroines Along the Niagara River-- Same Forts, Different Years

As I was writing about Mary Madden Henry and her role at a battle at Fort George, Upper Canada, it came to mind that I had also written about another woman, only she was on the American side of the fighting there between Niagara, Upper Canada and the American Fort Niagara.  She too was a hero.

During the fighting on November 12, 1812, she had carried hot shot to American cannons firing at Fort George across the Niagara River.  Like with the case of Mary Henry, she was under fire as well.

I wrote quite a bit about her earlier this year in January and February.  Just click on her name below.

The battle where Mary Henry distinguished herself took place about six months later on May 27, 1813.

Some bravery with these two women.

Sadly, not a lot is known by most people about these two women.  There isn't even an entry on Wikipedia on either of them.

--Brock-Perry

Mary Madden Henry, Canadian Heroine-- Part 8: After the War

Following the war. Mary Henry's acts of courage were recognized by the Loyal and Patriotic Society of Upper Canada.

They referred to her as "a heroine not to be frightened" and she was granted a gift of twenty-five pounds sterling.  When adjusted for time and inflation, that grant would be worth more than 1,000 pound today.

Until this month, I had never heard of Mary Madden Henry.

But, since this is Women's History Month, this fits right in.

--Brock-Perry

Mary Madden Henry-- Part 7: The Americans Destroy the Town of Niagara

After the battle, the Americans held on to the area until December.  They had hoped to use Fort George to launch an attack on the British base at Burlington Heights, but their defeat at Stoney Creek and Beaver Dams wrecked their plans.

Moreover, occupying Fort George made them vulnerable to ambushes.

As a result, on December 10, 1813, the Americans decided to abandon Fort George and Niagara, burning the town in their departure.  Those who lived there only had an hour's warning before they lost their homes.

Mary's house was spared though.  How did she get so lucky again?

The lighthouse was considered useful by the Americans for shipping, so they chose not to destroy it or the keeper's house.

As she did before, Mary came to the aid of those who needed her.  She and her husband opened their doors to the newly homeless.  Mary again provided hot food and medical care, which was undoubtedly much appreciated considering that winter had already come to the region.

--Brock-Perry

Mary Madden Henry-- Part 6: 'Walked Through a Shower of Iron...'

This battle wasn't just a small skirmish.  It was a major deal for War of 1812 standards.  The Americans brough some 80 cannons with them to cover the landings on Canadian soil.  Soldiers at te battle compared the bombardment to a "hailstorm."

However, this did not deter Mary.

A chronicler describes what happened:

"Suddenly they (the defenders) saw a vision.  Walking calmly through the shower of iron came Mary Henry with hot coffee and food, seemingly unconcerned as if she were in her own small garden on the shore on a Summer evening before the peace was shattered.

"Time and again she went and came back with more sustenance, apparently guarded by some  unseen angel from the peril which menaced her every step. Through the day until darkness brought respite she was caterer and nurse, the only woman in the company to bind the wounds of those maimed in the fight.

"These who survived never forgot that day, nor the courage of Mary Henry."

Quite the Hero.  --Brock-Perry

Mary Madden Henry-, Canadian Heroine- Part 5

Ten years later, the War of 1812 was being fought between the Americans and the British and Canadians.  On May 27, 1813, the Americans attacked Fort George  and the surrounding area.  Known at the Battle of Fort George, it was a showdown between 4,000 American trrops and 1,000 British soldiers bolstered by Canadian militia and Indian allies.

Despite the British defenders being outnumbered 4 to 1, they were able to hang on for two days before being forced to retreat to Burlington Heights (now Hamilton).

With the lighthouse being so close to Fort George, Mary had a front row seat to the action.  But she did not sit idly by.  Instead, she repeatedly walked through the battlefield and brought food and coffee to the troops.  In addition to that, she helped in the treatment of the wounded.

--Brock-Perry

Mary Madden Henry-- Part 4

From the October 6, 2015, "All about Canadian history" blog.

The story of Mary Henry; an al-but-forgotten heroine form the War of 1812.  There is not a lot of source material about her.

She was born Mary Madden c1770 in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.  Not much is known about her early life.  Around the age of 20 she married a Royal Artillery gunner from County  Derry named Dominic Henry in 1790.  The two immigrated to British North America when Dominic was shipped to a post in Niagara.

In 1803, Dominic retured from the military, became a pensioner and was appointed the keeper of the first lighthouse on the Great Lakes town of Niagara (now Niagara-by-the-Lake.)

--Brock-Perry

Mary Madden Henry-- Part 3

From Find-A-Grave.

BIRTH:  1770  County Antrim, Northern Ireland

DEATH:  1823  (Aged 52-53)

BURIAL:  St. Mark's Cemetery  Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada.

Her husband, Dominic Henry is also buried there, but his birth and death dates are not listed.

The wife of Dominic Henry is a well-known War of 1812 hero, Mary (Madden) Henry, who tended the wounded on the battlefield of Fort George while under fire.

--Brock-Perry

Mary Madden Henry, Canadian Heroine-- Part 2

The lighthouse her husband operated was located where the remnants of Fort Mississauga are today, along the shore of Lake Ontario, surrounded by what is today the Niagara-on-the-Lake  Golf Club.

Mary calmly walked through thye men with refreshments and helped the wounded several times as the battle raged around her.  She returned to her house near the lighthouse for more supplies.  Miraculously, she was not wounded or killed.

When the American soldiers ntorched the town, she housed as many of the townspeople as she could at her place.

--Brock-Perry

Mary Madden Henry, Canadian Heroine-- Part 1

From the March 1, 2023, Niagara Now  "History shines spotlight on brave women of War of 1812" by Somer Slobodian.

Mary Madden Henry handed the hard-pressed troops hot beverages and food as the fighting continued around her.  It was a sight that would remain etched in the minds of those soldiers from then on.

And, these soldiers were British and Canadian, not Americans as I at first thought.

It was May 1813 and the Americans had just attacked British troops at Fort George, now Niagara-on-the-Lake.  Amid the fighting,  Mary Henry, who was married to the lighthouse keeper Dominic Henry, surely knew the risk she was taking.  She still braved the prospect of injury or death to help the troops.

--Brock-Perry

Betsy Doyle

From Alexanders Map.com  "Betsy Doyle" by N.H. Carmichael.

Fort Niagara came under fire from the British on November 21, 1812.  Thirteen months later, the British and their Indian allies captured the fort after the Americans had refused to surrender. The British commander ordered no quarter, in other words, no surrender.  All captured were to be killed.  

Somehow, Betsy Doyle and her family escaped.  However, fleeing on foot and now in enemy territory along with the cold of December and winter, their chances weren't good at all.  But somehow they did and after four months reached American forces near Albany.

She was never paid for her heroism at Fort Niagara and died six years later.  The author of this wanted to know where she was buried.

There is a plaque at Fort Niagara that isn't prominently displayed on the top floor of the French Castle where she brought the red hot shot to a cannon.  However, it misidentified her as Fanny Doyle.

Her husband Andrew Doyle came back to the United States after his release, but never found her. He married someone else the same year Betsy died.

I Also Would Like To Know Where She Is Buried.   --Brock-Perry

A Video and More Information on Betsy Doyle

From the William G. Pomeroy Foundation, "Heroine of Fort Niagara Betsy Doyle:  History happened here."

There is a minute and a half video as well as a historical marker featured at this site.

Some more information about Betsy Doyle:

**  She has been called "The Hero of Fort Niagara."

**  After the fort fell to the British in 1813, she took her family 310 miles to the Greenbush Cantonment.

**  There, she continued to support the American cause, often without pay.

**  She died in 1819.

**  In 2012, she was named a New York State Woman of Distinction for her bravery.

--Brock-Perry

Some More on Betsy Doyle-- Part 3: What Did She Look Like?

Several months later, in the spring of 1813, a group of young American officers at Fort Niagara were discussing Betsy's exploits and decided to summon her to the roof of the Mess House to view the reputed charms of a "sort of Gallic Amazon,"

(Supposedly, Betsy was said to be quite pretty.  I imagine the officers had been there during the battle.)

According to William Worth, the group was  "sadly disappointed" to discover that Mrs. Doyle more resembled  Meg Merilles, a gypsy-witch character in literature, rather than the Maid of Orleans (Joan of Arc).

If you look up Meg Merilles like I had to do, you'll see what they meant.

Not So Pretty.   --Brock-Perry

Some More on Betsy Doyle-- Part 2: Her Feat

After the Battle of Queenston Heights, the two sides agreed on a 30-day truce needed to recover from the battle and strengthen  their respective positions.  When the truce expired on November 21, 1813,  the guns of Fort Niagara and Fort George, just 600 yards apart across the river, opened fire.  

To gain a height advantage, the Americans had removed the roofs of several buildings in Fort Niagara and installed artillery batteries on the buildings' top floors.

As an added advantage. American gunners employed hot shot which were cannonballs heated red hot to set fire to Fort George's wooden buildings.  One particular gun was located  on the top floor of  Fort Niagara's  stone Mess House (today called the French Castle), a structure built by the French in 1726.

As casualties began to mount, Betsy Doyle  swung into action, carrying red hot cannonballs from downstairs fireplaces to the cannon on the exposed top floor.  

This was her moment of fame.

--Brock-Perry

Some More on Betsy Doyle-- Part 1

FromWCNY Org. Fort Niagara.

By Cathy Emmerson.

Betsy Doyle was a woman of the Army, one of a small number of military wives who were permitted to accompany their husbands to perform menial tasks like nursing and laundry.  Prior to the War of 1812, she had married  Andrew Doyle, a private in the 1st U.S. Artillery Regiment.

He was stationed at  Fort Niagara, an antiquated outpost on the Canadian/U.S. border, about 30 miles north of Buffalo, New York.

When U.S. forces invaded Upper Canada, just seven miles south  of the fort, on October 13, 1812, Private Doyle was among the forces crossing the Niagara River.  The subsequent Battle of Queenston Heights was a disaster for the Americans and Doyle became a prisoner of war.

When he was recognized as a  native of Upper Canada, he was sent to England to be tried for treason.  There he remained for the balance of the war, an inmate at the infamous Dartmoor Prison.

Andrew's capture left Betsy Doyle and her four children  alone at Fort Niagara.

--Brock-Perry

Betsy Doyle?

I have not been able to find a date for her death, and tghe last post was a bit confusing.  Did she die during the war or several years after its conclusion?

There is no listing for her in Wikipedia which is surprising.  

Nor, is there anything in Find-A-Grave.

Where is she buried?

--Brock-Perry

Betsy Doyle and Battle of Fort Niagara-- Part 6: After the Battle and Death

Although one man was killed and five wounded loading hot-shot, Betsy survived the artillery barrage and her bravery was mentioned in several battle reports.  The story of her actions spread quickly among the American troops at the fort and the whole region. 

In December 1813, Betsy fled the Fort Niagara area when the British invaded and captured Fort Niagara.  Withn her children at her side, she fled 300 miles to the East Greenbush Cantonment near Albany, New York.

This journey took nearly four months.

Betsy Doyle then served for six years as a nurse and  laundress at the cantonment.  Sometimes, she did not receive pay from the Army.

Betsy fell ill  and was bedridden for  a month before her death in April.

According to one officer:  "Her death was accelerated by the want of necessities which her pay would have procured."

Despite her service, Betsy Doyle became  a victim of the war long before it ended.

--Brock-Perry

Betsy Doyle and the Battle of Fort Niagara-- Part 5: A 12-Hour Bombardment.

About an hour before sunrise, the British cannons at Fort George opened fire on Fort Niagara.    For the next twelve hours, the American and British artillery exchanged a cannonade  that was heard along the entire length of the Niagara River.

During this exchange, Betsy Doyle carried red-hot cannonballs from a fire to the six pound cannon mounted on top of the mess hall.  That hot-shot" was intended to set fire to British buildings and battlements.

But loading hot-shot was difficult and dangerous.  The hot iron  could cause gunpowder to explode prematurely in the cannon, wounding or killing anyone standing nearby.

--Brock-Perry

Betsy Doyle and the Battle of Fort Niagara-- Part 4: 'An Instance of Extraordinary Bravery'

From the National Park Service "Autumn 1812:  Betsy Doyle helps operate a cannon to defend Fort Niagara."

While British cannonballs crashed around her, Betsy Doyle carried red-hot iron shot to the American cannons atop Fort Niagara.  With her husband a prisoner of the British, Betsy was left alone to fight for survival on the frontier, going above and beyon the call of duty.

"An instance of extraordinary  bravery"--  Lieutenant Colonel  George McFeeley.

In the early  dawn of November 21, 1812, Betsy Doyle looked out from Fort Niagara across the Niagara River to British Fort George, waiting for the first shots to be fired.  With ammunition for only a 12-hour bombardment, the American artillery was ordered to hold fire  unless fired upon by the British.

Betsy stood alongside soldiers of the First Regiment of United States Artillery, with whom her husband had served before his capture at  the Battle of Queenston Heights just one month earlier.  While Andrew Doyle remained imprisoned, Betsy continued to live and work at Fort Niagara with her children.

--Brock-Perry

Betsy Doyle, American Heroine-- Part 3: Carrying Those Red-Hot Cannonballs

After the capture of her husband, Betsy Doyle was left to fend for herself at Fort Niagara.  Like many women, she supported herself and her family by laundering soldiers' clothing.

When the cannons began to roar on November 22, 1812, Betsy abandoned her washtub and offered her services to the gun crew from her husband's regiment.

During the ensuing barrage she carried red-hot cannon balls from the furnace to the cannon which was then fired at Fort George, 1,300 yards away.  Fort Niagara's commandant noted that Betsy "showed fortitude  equal to the Maid of  Orleans (Joan of Arc)."

The participation of women in America's wars is recorded in many scattered sources -- order books, letters, journals, and official records for all  of America's early wars, and these sources are well represented in the University of Michigan Clements Library.

--Brock-Perry

Betsy Doyle, American Heroine-- Part 2

From the  Nov. 12, 2012, Clements Library Chronicles "Today in History:  Heroine of Fort Niagara" by Brian Dunnigan.

Two hundred years ago, Betsy Doyle, wife of a U.S. artilleryman at Fort Niagara, New York, stood by the soldiers stationed at a gun platform during a ferocious exchange of cannon fire with the British-held Fort George across the Niagara River.

Betsy, whose name is often incorrectly given as "Fanny,"  was the wife of artilleryman Andrew Doyle.  As such, she was one of the many married women who accompanied their husbands into the field with both the British and American armies.

Doyle, however, was not present to see his wife's heroism; he had fought at the Battle of Queenston Heights on October 13, where he was taken prisoner.

--Brock-Perry