Battle of Fort George
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The Battle of Fort George was a battle fought during the War of 1812, in which the Americans captured the British fort on western Lake Ontario.
Background
After the success at the Battle of York, despite the loss of General Zebulon Pike, American General Henry Dearborn planned for a further invasion of upper Ontario. On May 25 1813 the Americans began to bombard Fort George from their positions along the Niagara River and from Fort Niagara. The Americans were using a new technique of cannon fire known as heated shot. Cannonballs would be heated in furnaces until they were red-hot, then quickly loaded into cannons and fired. Several buildings within Fort George burned down as a result. These bombings were highly successful and destroyed much of the fort's interior. This signalled an imminent attack against the fort itself. The fort's commander, Brigadier General John Vincent, was unaware from which direction the invasion would come and decided to concentrate his forces along the Niagara River opposite the American batteries, figuring Dearborn would use the river defenses as cover for his attack.The battle
The attack, however, did not come along the Niagara River, instead Dearborn landed Winfield Scott and Benjamin Forsyth along the lakeshore, covered by cannon fire from his gunboats and sloops. When Scott's forces began landing on the beach, Vincent rushed companies of the Glengarry Light Infantry, the 8th (The King's) Regiment of Foot, the Royal Newfoundland Fencibles, and Capt. Runchey's Company of Coloured Men to the beach. The British and Canadians charged the Americans with the bayonet. Winfield Scott had to personally fight off a Glengarry Light Infantry soldier while falling into the water. The American regulars continued to disembark and beat back the attack. Vincent was in a position to be flanked and his attack had just been repulsed, he quickly decided that Fort George was to be abandoned and withdrew with such haste that women and children were left behind in the fort.The American batteries on the Niagara River continued to bomb the retreating British. Vincent was so eager to avoid the American landing force at this point that he retreated south to Queenston before withdrawing to the northwest. However, an attempt by American dragoons to cut off Vincent's retreat was ineffective, and the pursuit by a brigade under John Parker Boyd was called off by Dearborn.
Results
The American invasion of Upper Canada at the battles of York and Fort George was a success for the United States. However the campaign became more of a raid when the Unites States was defeated in the Battle of Stoney Creek and failed to make any further gains on the Niagara peninsula. These American victories did allow several ships blockaded in Black Rock to be moved into Lake Erie, and these were to be instrumental in the victory of Oliver Hazard Perry in the Battle of Lake Erie.Sources
- [The Capture of Fort George, 1813 by Robert Henderson]
- http://members.tripod.com/~war1812/allbat.html
- http://www.galafilm.com/1812/e/events/ftmeigs.html
- Elting, John R. Amateurs, To Arms! A Military History of the War of 1812. 1991. ISBN 0945575084 (hardcover); ISBN 0306806533 (1995 Da Capo Press paperback).
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