John B. Montgomery, USN-- Part 4: On USS Niagara at Battle of Lake Erie

In August 1813, Montgomery volunteered for transfer to Lake Erie and joined the squadron commanded by Oliver Hazard Perry.  He was stationed on the brig USS Niagara under Captain Jesse Duncan Elliott and fought in the decisive Battle of Lake Erie on September 13, 1813.

He consequently received  a sword and thanks of Congress.  Though not directly involved  in the subsequent Perry-Elliott dispute, he  apparently sided with his commanding officer.

Montgomery remained on Lake Erie throughout the summerof 1814 and sailed with Commander  Arthur Sinclair during his ill-fated campaign against Mackinac on Lake Huron.

He spent the last weeks of the war performing courier duties on Lake Erie before arriving in New York City during the celebrations of peace.

--Brock-Perry

Arthur Sinclair (Father of Arthur Sinclair Jr. CSN): Through the Ranks

I came across the name Arthur Sinclair while doing my Running the Blockade: Civil War blog as being the commander of the CSS Mississippi who ordered his ship destroyed when New Orleans fell to Union forces during the Civil War.  Later, he drowned when the blockade runner Lelia sank.

I found out he had a father who was in the U.S. Navy during the War of 1812.  Here is his father's advancement through the ranks of the U.S. Navy.

ARTHUR SINCLAIR

Lieutenant:  10 June 1807

Master Commandment:  2 July 1812

Captain:  24 July 1813

Died: 7 February 1831

Looks like I will have to do further research on this man.

--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

American Assault on Fort Mackinac

AUGUST 4-5, 1814:  Fort Mackinac was commanded by Lt.-Col. Robert McDouall who had arrived that spring with reinforcements.  As part of American Arthur Sinclair's expedition that sailed from Detroit to recapture that post, Lt-Col. George Croghan commanded a force of 700 regulars and Ohio militia, almost twice the strength of the British force at Mackinac.

Once at the post the Americans could not bring their vessels' guns to bear on the fortification, located on a height of land and therefore landed their troops at the far side of the island to lure McDouall into open combat.

Unable to breech the strong British defensive position established by McDouall on the edge of a clearing, Croghan's botched attack suffered heavy casualties.

The Americans withdrew to Detroit, ending Sinclair's upper Great Lakes Expedition.

--Brock-Perry

200 Years Ago: Sinclair's Expedition

JULY 23-26, 1814:  CAPTAIN ARTHUR SINCLAIR'S RAID UP THE ST. MARY'S RIVER

The raid on St. Mary's River (Sault St. Marie), Upper Canada, was a part of the American expedition for mastery of the upper Great Lakes.

After burning the abandoned Fort St. Joseph, Captain Sinclair sent a flotilla of boats of boats loaded with sailors and infantry up the St. Mary's River where they torched the North West Company trading post and storehouses, vital assets in the British fur trading infrastructure.

They also destroyed the locks of the Sault Ste. Marie Canal built in 1798 by the company to allow freight canoes to bypass the falls.  Sinclair's men also captured and burned the company's schooner Perseverance, one of the few British vessels on the upper Great Lakes.

--Brock-Perry

200 Years Ago:Sinclair's Expedition

JULY 23-26, 1814:  Captain Arthur Sinclair's raid up the St. Marey's River (Sault Ste. Marie), Upper Canada.

After burning the abandoned Fort St. Joseph, he sent a flotilla of boats with sailors and infantry up St. Mary's River.

They torched the North West Co. trading post and storehouses as well as the locks of the first Sault Ste. Marie canal (built in 1798 to allow freight cannons to bypass the falls).  They also captured and burned the company's schooner, the Perseverance, one of the few British vessels on the Upper Great Lakes.

--Brock-Perry

Sinclair's July-August Upper Great Lakes Campaign

Captain Arthur Sinclair was given orders to take the American Lake Erie Squadron on a campaign to retake the Upper Great Lakes during July-August 1814.    It was largely unsuccessful attempt.  The removal of British forces at Detroit caused the effort to be taken.

The only success for the Americans was the capture of three British merchant ships and the destruction of an abandoned fort at St. Joseph's Island and a raid on a trading post at St. Mary River.

Sinclair failed to recapture Fort Michillimackinaw.  Two schooners were lost on the return voyage.

--Brock-Perry

Sailor Finds War of 1812 Ancestor's Grave

From the April 9th Navy Times by Jacqueline Klimas.

Lt.j.g. Lloyd Mustin is the eighth generation of his family to serve in the Navy (quite impressive in itself) and is on the USS Stout.  His fifth great-grandfather, Arthur Sinclair, was a commodore in the Great Lakes region in 1812.

Sinclair joined the Navy at age 12 and served during the Quasi-War with France on the frigate USS Constellation during its famous fight with the French frigate L'Insurgente which ended with the first American capture of a foreign vessel.

Mustin did a web search for his ancestor's grave and found it at Cedar Grove Cemetery, just a ten-minute walk away for him.  The cemetery contains many early 19th-century gravestones, many barely legible all these years later.  He found it, though.

because of his family's commitment to the Navy, a destroyer, the USS Mustin was named for Captain Henry Mustin who flew the first aircraft to be catapulted off a ship in 1914.  Henry Mustin also designed the naval aviator insignia.