Steps of a Traitor, Joseph Willcocks-- Part 3: The Burning of Newark

The Americans abandoned Fort George on December 10, 1813,   Near Fort George was the town of Newark where Joseph Willcocks had  lived and printed his controversial newspaper  for six years.

Following orders from the American officer in charge of the fort,  and upon Willcocks' urging, Brigadier General George McClure, the Americans forcibly removed the residents of Newark, mostly the young and old women and children and forced them out into the snow and freezing weather.  There were about 400 people who suffered this.

Then Willcocks and his raiders and other Americans, burned  around 150 homes to the ground, leaving just three buildings standing.  The townspeople were forced to cope as well as they could in the freezing temperatures and 2-3-foot snow drifts.

In one situation, Willcocks ordered two men to forcibly remove a sickly woman, bed and all, and deposit her in the snow.  Earlier that year, he had sent her husband, William Dickson, stateside as a prisoner.  While she was being taken out, Willcocks personally set fire to the two-story home.

After all the burnings, the Americans retreated across the Niagara River, with the Canadian Volunteers forming the rear guard.  They crossed just as the British and Canadians under Lt. General Sir Gordon Drummond arrived on the scene.

--Brock-Perry