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Brigadier General George McClure McClure was a local lawyer and businessman in Western New York who was commissioned in the N.Y. Militia as a Brigadier General. In the fall of 1813, McClure was given command of the garrison at Ft. George. After the regular garrison was marched east and to attack Montreal, McClure responded to a planned British attack by burning the town of Newark and retreating to the US side of the Niagara River. McClure was terrified. After capturing the fort with 6,000 men, the US Army left McClure with only 100 men to defend it. After the British reclaimed Newark and Ft. George, they retaliated by burning Buffalo and five other New York towns. McClure claimed he acted under the Secretary of War's orders. McClure however, was only given permission to burn Newark if the British used it as a base to attack Ft. George. At no time did the British occupy Newark while US troops held Ft. George.
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