HISTORY

The Dieppe of 1812: Battle of Queenston Heights
October 13, 1812

In August of 1942, around 6,000 Canadian troops crossed the English Channel to attack German-occupied port of Dieppe in Northern France. Although the raid started out well it ran into technical difficulties and before 11 AM they were forced to retreat. 60% of those who made it ashore were killed, wounded, or captured. But 130 years before, Canadians were on the other side of such an operation at a place called Queenston Heights on 13 October 1812.

By the fall of 1812, the Americans are desperate for a major victory. Hull's surrender at Detroit was proof that the invasion of Canada will not be a simple "matter of marching" as Jefferson had claimed. The United States had not followed its original plan of striking at Canada simultaneously on three fronts, allowing the British to defeat each piecemeal attack in detail and shift forces to other threatened fronts.

On the Niagara, Stephen Van Rensselaer considered the forces of the Army of the Centre ample to assure him of success. They numbered more than 6,000. 1,650 under General Smyth, were between Black Rock and Buffalo, commanded by Colonels Winder, Parker, Milton, and Lieutenant Colonel Scott. In the immediate vicinity were 386 militia, under Lieutenant Colonels Swift and Hopkins. At Lewiston, where Van Rensselaer had his head-quarters, Brigadier General Wadsworth commanded a force of militia almost 1,700 strong, and near him was the camp of Brigadier General Miller, with almost 600 additional men. 550 regulars under Lieutenant Colonel Fenwick, and 800 regulars under Major Mullany, were in garrison at Fort Niagara. There were, all total: 3,650 regulars, and 2,650 militia.

Unfortunately for Van Rensselaer, Smyth had no intention of allowing his regulars to be commanded an officer of the militia. This reduced Van Rensselaer available regular forces to about 900. Once again the stage was set for disputes between officers in the American army defeating an operation before it had even left it's assembly points.

British Dispositions

The British force on the western bank of the Niagara River, regular, militia and Native Americans, numbered about 1,500. Their Native American allies, under John Brant, were about 250 strong. A Major Armand commanded small garrisons at Ft. Erie, at eastern end of Lake Erie, and few small batteries opposite the village of Black Rock. The erection of Ft. Erie had then just commenced, but for want of funds had been left unfinished. A small detachment of the 41st Regiment of Foot, under a Captain Bullock, and few companies of the 2nd Regiment of the Lincoln Militia, under Captains Hamilton and Roe, were located at Chippewa, where there was a old block-house called Ft. Welland.

Two companies of the 49th Regiment of Foot, under Captains Dennis and Williams, and a group of militia, were stationed at Queenston Heights, and, with the exception of detached parties of militia along the whole line of the river tasked to watch the movements of the Americans, the remaining troops were at Ft. George, the headquarters of Major General Brock. At every mile between Ft. George and Queenston heights, batteries were placed. On Queenston Heights the battery, mounted some 18-pounders and two howitzers; and on Vrooman's Point, nearby for support, was another battery, on which was mounted a 24-pound gun. This gun commanded both Lewiston and Queenston Landing.

Lieutenant Sims

Van Rensselaer had made himself thoroughly acquainted with the condition of the enemy. His officers, while on official visits to the various posts had observed British positions and he was so well satisfied that a favorable time for an invasion of Canada had arrived that he made arrangements on the 10th of October to attack Queenston at 3 AM the next morning. During that evening thirteen large boats, capable of bearing three hundred and forty full-armed and equipped men, were brought down on wagons from Gill's Creek, two miles above Niagara Falls, and placed in the river at Lewiston Landing, under cover of darkness. An artillery battery under Lieutenant Colonel Fenwick, and a detachment of regulars under his command, were ordered up from Ft. Niagara, and General Smyth was directed to send down detachments from his brigade at Buffalo to support the movement (which he was not about to do), Stephen Van Rensselaer, realizing that he was not fit to lead the attack personally assigned Colonel Solomon Van Rensselaer to the command of the invading force, an arrangement which seems to have angered some of the officers of the regular army.

The river at Lewiston, at the foot of the lower rapids, is always a sheet of violent eddies, the middle current running about four miles an hour. To prevent confusion and disaster, experienced boatmen were procured, and the command of the flotilla was entrusted to a Lieutenant Sims, who was considered "the man of the greatest skill for the service." Before midnight every thing was in readiness. Clouds had been gathering all evening, and at 1 AM a furious northeast storm of wind and rain was swept the area. At the appointed hour they were all at the place of debarkation, with Solomon Van Rensselaer at their head. Lieutenant Sims entered the first boat, and soon disappeared in the gloom. The others could not follow, for he had taken nearly all the oars with him! They waited for him to discover and correct his mistake, but he moored his boat to the shore, and fled, deserting as his fellow soldiers watched in shock. With no way to cross the river, the attack was called off.

Second Attempt

Lieutenant Colonel Chrystie arrived at Four-mile Creek late in the evening of the 10th, with 350 newly-enlisted regulars, a part of the Thirteenth Regiment of Infantry, commanded respectively by Captains Wool, Ogilvie, Malcolm, Lawrence and Armstrong. Chrystie had hastened to headquarters, and offered the services of himself and his men in the invasion, but he was too late. Every arrangement was completed. Colonel Van Rensselaer was moving with his men to the landing-place, where only boats enough for the transportation of the troops designated.

Brock made perhaps his only misjudgment of the war. The strong force at Fort Niagara, and the detention of Chrystie's troops at Four-mile Creek, made him suspect that an attack, if made soon, would targeted at Ft. George.

3 AM on the 13th the attacking force was ready to embark from the old Ferry house at Lewiston Landing for the base of Queenston Heights. The command was again entrusted to Colonel Solomon Van Rensselaer. Lieutenant Colonel Chrystie requested that he be placed in command but Van Rensselaer would not change his arrangements at this late stage. It was agreed, however, that Colonel Van Rensselaer should lead a column of 300 militia, and Lieutenant Colonel Chrystie should lead another composed of the same number of regulars for the first crossing. Chrystie refused to waive his rank in favor of Van Rensselaer, but consented to take orders from him.

Last Minute Additions

Earlier Chrystie had marched with 300 men from Fort Niagara by an interior road, and reached Lewiston before midnight. Lieutenant Colonels Stranahan, Mead, and Bloom, with three regiments, marched at about the same time from the village of Manchester and also reached Lewiston at that time. Meanwhile Lieutenant Colonel Scott had arrived at Schlosser, two miles above the Falls, at the head of his regiment, where he was informed that an expedition against the enemy of some kind was in motion at Lewiston. Eager to take part, he immediately mounted his horse, and dashed toward headquarters. He presented himself to the commanding general, and requested the privilege of taking a part in the invasion with his command. "The arrangements for the expedition are all completed, sir," said General Van Rensselaer. "Colonel Van Rensselaer is in chief command. Lieutenant Colonels Chrystie and Fenwick have waived their rank for the occasion, and you may join the expedition as a volunteer, if you will do the same." Van Rensselaer wisely determined not to have a divided command. Scott was unwilling to yield his rank; but it was agreed that he should bring on his regiment, take position on the heights of Lewiston with his cannon, and co-operate in the attack as circumstances might warrant. Scott hastened back to Schlosser, put his regiment in motion, and by a forced march reached Lewiston at 4 AM in the morning.

Crossing

The night of the 12th was moonless, yet every thing was in readiness for the invasion at a little after 3 AM. Mr. Cook, a citizen of Lewiston, assumed command of the boats, and provided men to man them; Mr. Lovett, Van Rensselaer's secretary, had been placed in charge of an eighteen-pound gun battery on Lewiston Heights, with instructions to cover the landing. The plan called for the 600 men, under Van Rensselaer and Chrystie, to cross over and take possession of Queenston Heights, when the remainder of the troops were to follow and drive the British from the town. But there were only thirteen boats, and these were not sufficient to carry more than about one half of the troops intended for the capture of the Heights. The regulars having reached the boats first, the companies of Wool, Malcolm, and Armstrong were immediately embarked, with forty picked men from Captain Leonard's company of artillery at Fort Niagara, under Lieutenants Gansevoort and Rathbone, and about sixty militia. When all were ready, Van Rensselaer gave the word to advance, and leaped into the boat containing the artillery troops. Major Morrison was ordered to follow with the remainder of the troops on the return of the boats. Within ten minutes after leaving Lewiston Landing the boats struck the Canada shore "at the identical spot aimed at," just above a huge rock now seen lying in the edge of the water under the Lewiston suspension bridge. Here the militia was landed; the regulars debarked a little below the rock. Three of the thirteen boats had lost their way; the remaining ten now returned to the American shore.

Landing

The movements of the Americans had been discovered by Captain Dennis, of the 49th Regiment of Foot, stationed at Queenston. Dennis took 60 grenadiers of the 49th, Captain Hatt's company of York volunteer militia, a small body of native Americans, and a three-pound field-piece and began to resist the landing. Their first volley of musketry mortally wounded Lieutenant Rathbone, by the side of Colonel Van Rensselaer. Lovett's battery returned fire from Lewiston Heights, forcing the British to retire up the hill toward Queenston, pursued by the regulars of the 13th, under Captain Wool, the senior officer present, in the absence of Lieutenant Colonel Chrystie, who was in one of the missing boats. On the margin of the plateau on which Queenston stands Wool ceased pursuit, drew his men up in battle order, and was about to send to Colonel Van Rensselaer for directions, when that officer's aid, Judge Advocate Lush, came hurrying up with orders to prepare to storm the Heights. Lush hastened back to the chief commander on the shore, and in a few minutes returned with orders for Wool to advance. He was moving rapidly over the plateau toward the foot of the Heights, when the order for storming was countermanded, and the troops were brought to a halt. Captain Dennis, meanwhile, had been strengthened by the arrival on the Heights of some Light Infantry under Captain Williams, and a company of the York militia under Captain Chisholm, Dennis attacked the right flank of the Americans, At the same time, Williams and Chisholm opened a opened from the Heights. Without waiting for farther orders, Wool wheeled his column to the right and confronted Dennis' force. Colonel Van Rensselaer and the militia had taken a position on the left of the Thirteenth in the mean time. The engagement was severe but short, and the enemy was compelled to fall back to Queenston. Of the ten officers of the Thirteenth who were engaged, Lieutenants Valleau and Morris were killed and Captains Wool, Malcolm, and Armstrong, and Lieutenant Lent were seriously wounded. Colonel Van Rensselaer was so badly wounded in several places that he was compelled to relinquish his command.

Attacking the Heights

While Wool and his command were engaged with the enemy below, those upon the Heights kept up a steady fire upon the Americans, which the Americans were not in a position to respond to. Colonel Van Rensselaer ordered the whole detachment to fall back to the beach below the hill, but as they did so, one man was killed and several were wounded by enemy fire from the heights. It was now broad daylight, and the storm had ceased. While a detachment was forming for further action on the margin of the river, a fourth company of the 13th, under Captain Ogilvie, crossed and joined them.

Lieutenant Colonel Chrystie had not been heard from, Van Rensselaer was disabled. All the other officers had no combat experience. Captain Wool, the senior of them all in rank, was told to capture the Heights. Wounded, he ordered Captain Ogilvie, with his fresh troops to take the right of the column and commenced an attack on the heights itself by way of a very narrow part up the embankment, guided by Lieutenants Gansevoort and Randolph. The artillerists led the column; and in many places the precipice was so steep that the troops were compelled to pull themselves up by means of bushes. They were concealed from the enemy by the shelter of the rocks and shrubbery; and near the top they struck a fisherman's path, which the enemy supposed to be impassable, and had neglected to guard it.

British Response

While Wool and the 13th regiment were scaling the Heights, the British were making movements under great uncertainty. Sir Isaac Brock at Ft. George, about seven miles distant, had heard the cannon fire before dawn. He had been in expectation of an invasion at some point for several days, and only the night before he had given each of his staff special instructions. But he was confident that the attack would be made from Ft. Niagara on Ft. George, that he considered any other attempts as only a feint to conceal that movement. Attempting a personally reconnaissance, he pushed toward Queenston on horseback, followed by his aids, Major Glegg and Colonel Macdonell.

Arriving at Queenston, Sir Isaac and his companions rode up the Heights recognized that this was no feint. A sudden crack of musketry in their rear startled them. Wool and his followers had successfully scaled the Heights. Brock and his aids had not time to remount. Leading their horse, they fled down the slope to the village, followed by the twelve men who had manned the battery. A few minutes afterward the Stars and Stripes were waving over the captured fortification.

Counterattack

Brock immediately dispatched a courier to General Sheaffe at Ft. George with orders to push forward reinforcements, and, at the same time, open fire upon Ft. Niagara to tie down American reinforcements. He then took command of Captain Williams's detachment of 100 men, and hastened up the slope toward the battery, behind which Captain Wool had placed his forces, with their faces toward Queenston, to await an attack.

Dennis soon joined Brock with his detachment, when a movement was made to turn the American flank. Wool sent out 50 men to keep the flanking party in check, and to take possession of the crown of the Heights, but they were too few for the purpose, and even when reinforced they were unable to stem the steady advance of the veteran enemy. The whole detachment fell back with some confusion. The enemy pressed forward, and pushed the Americans to the verge of the precipice, at this point Captain Ogilvie raised a white handkerchief on the point of a bayonet in token of surrender. The incensed Wool forced Ogilvie with fight on so long as the ammunition should last, and then resort to the bayonet. Waving his sword, he led his inspirited comrades to a renewal of the conflict. British troops broke and fled down the Heights in dismay, and took shelter in and behind a large stone building near the edge of the river. Sir Isaac was amazed and mortified; and to his favorite grenadiers he shouted, "This is the first time I have seen the 49th turn their backs!"

2nd Attempt to Recapture the Heights

At the same time Lieutenant Colonel Macdonell brought up two companies of York Volunteers, under Captains Cameron and Howard, which had just arrived from Brown's Point. The British rallied, and Sir Isaac turned to lead them up the Heights. A conspicuous object for the American sharp-shooters. First a bullet struck his wrist, wounding it slightly. A moment afterward, as he shouted "Push on the York Volunteers," another bullet entered his breast and passed out through his side. He was dead instantly.

Macdonell assumed the command, and, at the head of them and the York Militia, 190 strong, he charged up the hill. The struggle was desperate, and the Americans, doubtful of the issue, spiked the cannon in the earthworks. Macdonell fell mortally wounded and Dennis and Williams were both severely injured, compelled to leave the field, the British fell back in some confusion to Vrooman's Point, leaving Wool and about 240 men masters of Queenston Heights, after three distinct and bloody battles, fought within the space of about five hours. Taking all things into consideration – the passage of the river, the nature of the ground, the rawness of the troops (for most of the regulars were raw recruits), the absence of cannon, and the youth and wounds of the American commander, the events of that morning were, "indeed, a display of intrepidity," as Wilkinson afterward wrote, "rarely exhibited, in which the conduct and the execution were equally conspicuous. . . . Under all the circumstances, and on the scale of the operations, the impartial soldier and competent judge will name this brilliant affair a chef-d'œuvre of the war."

Lull

It was now 10 AM, bleeding and in much pain, Wool would not leave the field, but kept at work in preparations to defend the position he had gained. He drew his troops up in line on the Heights fronting the village, ordered Gansevoort and Randolph to drill out the spiked cannon in the earthworks, and bring it to bear upon the enemy near Vrooman's Point, and sent out scouts to watch enemy movements.

Meanwhile reinforcements and supplies were slowly crossing the river. In the passage they were greatly annoyed by the fire from the one-gun battery on Vrooman's Point. The first that arrived on the Heights was a detachment of the 6th Regiment under Captain M'Chesney; another, of the 13th, under Captain Lawrence; and a party of New York riflemen, under Lieutenant Smith.

They were soon followed by others, including 56 men of the 23rd regiment and before noon Major General Van Rensselaer, Brigadier General Wadsworth, Lieutenant Colonels Winfield Scott, Fenwick, Stranahan, and Major Mullany, were on the Heights, These were mostly regulars as few militia were passing over the river. Van Rensselaer took immediate steps for fortifying the position, under the direction of Lieutenant Totten, of the Engineers, and dispatched an aid-de-camp to hasten the passage of the militia.

Winfield Scott Takes Over

Lieutenant Colonel Winfield Scott received permission from Van Rensselaer to cross over as a volunteer and take command of the troops on the Heights, he reached the Canada shore, with his adjutant Roach, just after Wadsworth, with a small detachment of volunteers. He unexpectedly found that another officer proposed limiting his command to the regulars; but Wadsworth promptly waived his rank, and said, "You, sir, know professionally what ought to be done," Scott at once assumed the general command, now at 350 regulars and 250 U.S. Volunteers, the latter under General Wadsworth and Lieutenant Colonel Stranahan. Assisted by the Lieutenant Totten, Scott placed them in the strongest possible position to receive the enemy and to cover the ferry, expecting to be reinforced at once by the militia from the opposite shore. But no Reinforcement was in progress. One officer described the situation at the ferry as:

"A scene of confusion hardly to be described; no person being charged with directing the boats and embarkation or with the government of the boatmen... some would occasionally hurry into a boat as they could find one, cross and leave it on the shore, perhaps to go adrift or else to be brought back by the wounded and their attendants."

Native Americans

Between 1 and 2 PM a troop of Indians suddenly appeared on the left, under the general command of Chief John Brant and fell upon the American pickets, driving them the U.S. Volunteers off in great confusion. Scott ordered at the front of his line; and his troops, forced the Native Americans to withdraw to the woods after a sharp, short engagement. But they were soon rallied and continued to annoy the Americans until Scott, at the head of a considerable portion of his force, made a general assault upon them, and drove them from the Heights. At the same time, General Sheaffe was seen cautiously approaching with reinforcements from Ft. George. Colonel

Chrystie took command of the 13th Regiment, and ordered Captain Wool to the American shore to have his wounds dressed.

Sheaffe's Gathering Attack

At Vrooman's Point, General Sheaffe, who had succeeded Brock in command, joined the fragments of the different units who had been driven from the Heights when Brock was killed, with heavy reinforcements. He moved cautiously. Near Vrooman's Point he left two pieces of artillery to command the town and formed in Elijah Phelps's fields on the Chippewa road. There he was joined by the 41st Grenadiers and some militia and Native Americans from Chippewa. British forces now numbered nearly 1,000, facing about 300 U.S. Troops.

The American militia now, refused to cross. Stephen Van Rensselaer rode up and down among them, alternately threatening and imploring. Lieutenant Colonel Bloom, who had been wounded in action and had returned, and Judge Peck, who happened to be at Lewiston, did the same, but without effect. All that Van Rensselaer could do was to send over some munitions, with a letter to General Wadsworth, ordering him to retreat and promising him a supply of boats for the withdrawal. However shortly after this message crossed the boats were dispersed. American forces were now trapped.

Reducing the American Position

Sheaffe started his attack at about 4 PM by directing Lieutenant M'Intyre, with the Light Company of the 41st to fall upon the American right. They fired a single volley and then charged. The Americans were overpowered by the onslaught and gave way. Sheaffe ordered his entire line to charge, while the two field-pieces were brought to bear upon the American ranks. The Americans yielded and fled toward the river, down the slope by the earthworks, and along the road leading from Queenston to the Falls. Reaching the water's edge, were also cut off from farther retreat by a lack of boats.

Finally Lieutenant Colonel Scott reached the British commanding general, and offered to surrender the whole force. Terms of capitulation were soon agreed to, and all the Americans on the British side became prisoners of war.