The Naval War of 1812: A Documentary History Volume III 1814–1815 Chesapeake Bay, Northern Lakes, and Pacific Ocean Part 4 of 7 Naval Historical Center Department of the Navy Washington, 2002 Electronically published by American Naval Records Society Bolton Landing, New York 2011 AS A WORK OF THE UNITED STATES FEDERAL GOVERNMENT THIS PUBLICATION IS IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN. 368 CHESAPEAKE BAY THEATER themselves to you for further orders- The rest of the G~n B?ats on ~is. sta­ tion, being so entirely destitute of men the few that remamd m <?ommlsslOn, with the exception of one as Guard Ship, I have ordered to be dehvered up to Capt. Cassin of the Dock Yard and made smug [snug] by the Argus's men before Chapter Two they leave the Station- .' . The Masters being all idle, & pressmg apphcatlons for the ~erchants, I was induced to recommend to them not to reject a good offer, as It w~s more than The Northern Lakes Theater: probable, an order for their discharge, or furlough, would soon arn~~- So many of my men have deserted since we have been under saIlmg orders, January 1814-June 1815 that I have deem'd it proper to leave two Officers to apprehe?d the~ when we disappear, and I have ordered the Tender Despatch to be kept m readmess to re­ The successes and failures of United States forces along the border with Canada cieve them and bring them on to me at New Yor~,- s~ould you hav~ any par­ in 1813 set the context of American operations in the northern lakes theater for ticular service for the Tender in that quarter I wlil detam her, othefWlse. I con­ 1814. The year 1814 opened with Tecumseh's Indian confederacy crushed and template sending her back immediately- I have the Honor to be SIr Very the United States in control of Lake Erie. The U.S. Army's plan to choke off the respectfully Your Obt. Servt. Cha" Gordon British lifeline to the lakes at the Saint Lawrence River, however, had failed dur­ ing the 1813 campaigning season and could not be successfully prosecuted in LS, DNA, RG45, CL, 1815, Vol. 2, No. 99 (MI25, Roll No. 43). 1814 without the infusion of many additional soldiers and the winning of naval mastery of Lake Ontario. 1. No date appears on this letter but it was postmarked 22 March. The phrase "24 Mch" was Napoleon's defeat in the spring oj 1814 opened up wider possibilities for British added in another hand in the dateline area and the letter was bound m the letter book between let- operations in the northern lakes theater. The availability of thousands of British ters dated 23 and 24 March. 2. Purser Henry Denison's commission was dated 25 April 1812. veterans of the wars in Europe for service in Canada emboldened Lord Bathurst, 3. Hornet sailed for Washington on 24 March. Cassin to Crownmshleld, 24 Mar. 1815, DNA, British secretary of state for war and the colonies, to order Sir George Prevost, gov­ RG45, CL, 1815, Vol. 2, No. 100 (M125, Roll No. 43). ernor-general of British North America, to go on the offensive and to invade the United States. British objectives for the lakes theater in 1814 included retaining control of the forts along the trade routes to the west of Lake Michigan and thus the support of the western Indians, recapturing Detroit, destraying the American base at Sackets Harbor, and occupying a piece of United States territory. If successful, the British believed they could gain territorial concessions along the United States-Canadian border and establish an Indian state in the northwest that would serve as a per­ manent barrier to American northern expansion. 1 The Americans planned in 1814 to use mastery of Lake Erie to control Lake Huron, recapture Mackinac, and cut off British contact with the western tribes. In the meantime, the army projected conquering the Niagara frontier and then sys­ tematically taking the British settlements along Lake Ontario, from west to east, in preparation for moving against Kingston and Montreal. 2 The American offensive on Lake Huron failed owing to a mixture of reasons, including bad weather, poor geographical knowledge, and carelessness, as well as pluck and enterprise on the part of the British. Further to the west, Prairie du Chien, a British trading post on the MississiPPi River in Indiana Territory (now in Wisconsin), fell to an American expedition dispatched from St. Louis, but was soon retaken by the British. 369 JANUARY 1814-JUNE 1815 371 NORTHERN lAKES THEATER 370 As Prevost was preparing his invasion force, the Americans were weakening their defenses in the Champlain Valley. On 29 August, Major General George During .I 814, Commodor~t!~:c a~~a~:~~0~~r:~~~la::1.ote~e: ;;:'iw~:~ Izard set out with 4, 000 troops for Sackets Harbor, where Secreta'ry of War John Armstrong ordered them to be ready to attack Kingston or to be in position to come ~;0~a;:;"s ~::./:E:E':,;='it'!:,~~';:'::f!'::~!,;~::;;:d ;:':~$.i~~ to the defense of the Niagara frontier. Izard left Brigadier General Alexander Ma­ lake s navhzga ~07 a if 1813-14 the British started earlier than did the A merica~s Over t e wtr:- er 0 .'. wn a 58- n and a 43-gun ship, and m comb with some 3, 000 soldiers at Plattsburg. On 1 September, Prevost led 10, 000 on new. wars?zp cO~~;~Y:~;'li~t~:~dmiralty,~hiCh took over full responsibil­ troops across the border. By 6 September, the British troops were on the outskirts of t.he spnng a arg~fis z the l~kes shipped the frames of two frigates and two Plattsburg, where they paused while Prevost awaited the outcome of the naval bat­ zty for the nava . orees on. 1 p; 'bru 1814 the Americans began work on a tle. On 11 September, having been delayed by Confiance's outfitting and by con­ n sloops to Q~ebec dm thbe spnn~ 22_gue n ::?gs' in Ma\J they laid down a 42-gun trary winds, Downie led his fleet into Plattsburg Bay, where Macdonough had de­ 60-gun shzp an a race oJ ,:.t cided to fight at anchor. At the end of the day, all the British warships, with the exception of the gunboats, had been captured. Fearing for his supply lines, Prevost frifi~~ng gained early asc~dancy on La~e Ontario i~ Ma;u 18h~ ~~dB~~~; beat a hasty retreat to Canada. attacked Fort Ontario, a maJo~ ~an:f;r koz~~t~!rn;n:;;an/!nt ~hipments of Along the United States-Canadian border, the 1814 fighting season ended in a lished a blockade of Oswego an ac et~ ~~ ke . Ontario shore into Sandy Creek, e standoff The British retained control of a significant portion of the United States' essenhti~;Snavkatl Rstoar~bsO~y a~:~aapl~:r~d a B/:eish force dispatched to intercept t~em. upper Old Northwest, while the Americans still held Lake Erie. Neither side had sout oJ ac e s " le . if ew Amerzcan been able to make permanent inroads across the Niagara River. On Lake Ontario Havin:g failed to ~ut °K:~i:::!!e:h;~~~~!z. t~~~;~to:~f t~e ~ew American the rival navies were in the process of building massive ships of the line that both warshzps, ~ommo ore th American fleet a slight superiority in force, and, were going to have difficulty manning. In the Lake Champlain Valley, the roles of ships m mzd-summer gav~ . e. C mmodore Isaac Chauncey took his fleet after recoverin.gfrom a debzlztatmgfr:erif 0 ential aid to U.S. Army operations on defense and offense had reversed between the British and Americans. News of the American repulse of the British invasion at Plattsburg nullified any claim the ~~!O~~~~::: ;::;:S~~' j~O~~::b~ .~i~h ~:e fitting o~t .t the ;h~~!/:en I~h!:{~;~ British had to territorial demands at the negotiating table. · St Lawrence the British regamed naval superzon y on . Ime ., . S k t Harbor. The shipbuilding contest on the northern lakes proceeded through the winter of tooulaste zA'n the Bse~gs:~{:; ~r:n:~;n}~~:f~~~n ~coff:nsive al~ng t~e Ni~ga~a River 1814-15 until the proclamation of peace in February 1815. The U.s. ship of the ., rmy b if h ngzng obJectzves an d line New Orleans remained on the stocks at Sackets Harbor until it was sold in 1883, a reminder of the monumental naval struggle for control of North Amer­ 7:: ;;r; !v:~;~s~:~~:l~~tit~~~odl~;~~~;~:a.::iri ~~j,/::.n;~{':: ica s destiny. captured Fort Ene and defeate ten zs m . n troops held unable to attack Fort George w~th~ut nav~llef:!::J'F~/t:::;~~nst British as­ 1. HO'/,sman, War of 1812, pp. 169-70; for a printed copy of Lord Bathurst's 3 fune 1814 dispatrh to Sir their own at the Battle of Lundy s an.e at n to d in Maior General George Izard George Prevost, outlining British defensive and offensive policy in Canada for the second half of 1814, see HilS man, War of 1812, pp. 249--51. sault. On 5 November, however, as wm er c se , 'J 2. Hickey, War of 1812, p. 183. or~::s~£o;~~:':,~"t.;:~ ;~:~E..-.:;~; :~':o,;;:~t::/'!.;:::::Z;s (:;: 3. Horsman, War of 1812, pp. 139-40. Europtrto take the offenswe. By then, fi h if Lake Champlain than to move vade the United State~ along the west~ tet or~o bar.