Battle of Longwoods
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| Detroit frontier |
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| Tippecanoe – Maguaga – Fort Dearborn – Detroit – Fort Harrison – Fort Wayne – Mississinewa – Frenchtown – Fort Meigs – Fort Stephenson – Lake Erie – Thames – Longwoods – Mackinac Island – Lake Huron |
The Battle of Longwoods was a battle of the War of 1812 on March 4, 1814, fought near present-day Wardsville, Ontario.
The Commander of the American Forces in Detroit, Lieutenant Colonel Butler, ordered Captain Andrew Holmes to take a force into Upper Canada and capture one of two British outposts in the area, either Port Talbot or Delaware.
The American Force led by Captain Holmes consisted of elements of the 24th Tennessee, 26th Vermont, 27th New York, and 28th Kentucky Regiments, along with the Michigan Rangers and the Michigan Militia Dragoons. It consisted of about 180 men in total.
The Longwoods was a heavily forested tract of land that lay between Delaware and the present town of Thamesville. On March 3, 1814, the British Western Rangers came upon the Americans just 15 miles outside of Delaware. After a brief skirmish, the British retreated to wait for reinforcements. The Americans withdrew to Twenty Mile Creek and fortified their position on top of a hill. They proceeded to water the hill, which then froze, as well as making an abatis.
The full British force arrived at Twenty Mile Creek at 5:00pm the next day. Under the command of Captain James Lewis Basden, this force consisted of the light companies of the Royal Scots and 89th Regiment, a detachment of Kent Militia , a company of rangers and about forty native warriors: in all about 300 men.
Captain Basden ordered Captain Caldwell, commander of the Kent Militia, to try to outflank the Americans to the North, while the Native warriors attempted to outflank the Americans from the South. Basden himself led the British soldiers on a direct assault up the hill into the American position. The Americans poured a withering fire into the oncoming British, who suffered 67 casualties, with Captain Basden himself taking a fatal blow to the knee. The Americans suffered only mild casualties, 4 deaths and 3 wounded.
After only an hour of fierce fighting, the British retreated, and subsequently abandoned their position at Delaware. Captain Holmes, realizing that he could not take the British force at Delaware, withdrew his American force back to Detroit.
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