CHARACTERS

Major General Stephen Van Rensselaer

A major of the United States militia in 1786, Rensselaer had a limited and brief pre-war military career. He was virtually untrained and inexperienced. Clearly, Van Rensselaer was not a good choice to command an entire American army, perhaps his only saving grace was that we himself recognized that he was ill prepared to lead an invasion of Canada.

Van Rensselaer accepted the command, hoping that the army would succeed despite his limited abilities. Knowing he was unqualified, he turned tactical command over to his cousin Solomon. But the Army of the Centre consisted largely of soldiers like himself — untrained, inexperienced militiamen with no desire to fight. The British were in the process of fortifying the Queenston Heights that Van Rensselaer would have to attack, and his officers were itching for action despite their general's desire to delay. To make matters worse, Brig. Gen. Alexander Smyth, Van Rensselaer's subordinate, had a large force of trained regulars that was theoretically under Van Rensselaer's overall command. However, Smyth, a regular soldier, continuously refused to obey of Van Rensselaer's commands or answer his summons. Van Rensselaer was forced to attack before he felt he was ready.

On October 13 1812, Van Rensselaer launched an attack on the British position that would evolve into the Battle of Queenston Heights, in which Van Rensselaer's forces were badly beaten by the British. Van Rensselaer's preparations and his plan of attack were clearly a major reason for the scale of the defeat. He was unable to secure the element of surprise, he did not procure enough boats for his men to cross easily, and he was even unable to supply his soldiers with sufficient ammunition. Van Rensselaer was not even able to coax the boatmen into going back over to rescue the doomed attack force. The defeat at Queenston Heights spelled the end to Van Rensselaer's military career, and after the battle, he resigned his post.