HISTORY

May 13, 1814
Battle of the Genesee

At sundown on May 14th the British fleet returned to the mouth of the Genesee. The local commander, Col. Stone ordered every man in the village, about thirty in all, to hurry to the mouth of the river to resist. They arrived at Charlotte shortly after daybreak.

A small boat from the British fleet was seen coming toward the shore displaying a flag of truce. Inexperienced, as were most American forces, Col. Stone had no idea of the proper procedure and feared a ruse. He delegated Capt. Francis Brown to receive the British officer (most likely this was a move to limit his responsibility.) He did issue strict instructions not to permit a landing. A short distance up the beach a large tree had fallen into the lake, and out on this crawled Brown. The boat came along side and the British officer proposed going ashore for the parley. Brown refused and pointed to twelve militia riflemen drawn up on shore to enforce the refusal.

"Is it your custom to receive a flag of truce under arms?" questioned the officer. The militiamen although somewhat embarrassed at their ignorance of the rules of war, continued in their refusal to permit him to land, and the officer was forced to deliver his message from the boat. In effect it was that the British commander would spare all private property provided the citizens surrendered the public stores. It was essentially the same procedure the townspeople had experienced twice before.

This time the reply from Brown was: "The public property is in the hands of those who will defend it." Twelve riflemen, in the form of volunteers from the settlements of Charlotte and Pittsford were set up by the river, ready to open fire on any boat sent by the British. A single boat soon put out from the British fleet. The boat laid down fire, and a single American artillery piece replied. The boat, way out of range was undamaged, but with this return fire, all hope of capturing supplies by surprise was gone and the boat put about and returned to the fleet.

Gen. Porter soon arrived from Canandaigua with approximately 500 or 600 additional militia and the General took charge of refusing a second demand for the surrender of the supplies stored in the harbor. Commodore Yeo apparently determined that the supplies were not worth the effort or feared that if he remained any longer he would risk engaging American ships. The British fleet left the vicinity of Rochester the next day.

The battle was not a significant event in the war, but it did signal a change in the approach of local citizens. It was no longer just a war; it was western New York's war. Fortunately the event was not seen as an example of the effectiveness of local militia . . . as the result was due far more to luck and a lack of British resolve than to any military capability of the American militia. The war ended before these troops were required to put that capability to the test again.