The War of 1812 . . . Year Two, Part 7 . . . Niagara-On-The-Lake

Most of this entry is centered around the upscale tourist town of Niagara-On-The-Lake. By the time of the War of 1812, Niagara-On-The-Lake had gone through several name changes . . . Butlersburg, West Niagara, Newark, Niagara, and finally the current incarnation. It had also been the first capital of Upper Canada. In what became known as the "Burning of Newark," US troops basically razed the town to the ground after abandoning Fort George. Well, actually more than a good many of them were Canadian troops loyal to the US under the command of Brigadier General George McClure. McClure had loosely interpreted a previous command resulting with this heinous action in the dead of winter (December 10, 1813) against a civilian population. Actions like this led to an escalation of war outrages throughout the region. All of which, up to that time, had been somewhat uncommon within the conventions of war. Ultimately, actions such as this and retaliations elsewhere in Upper Canada and Buffalo led to the burning of the White House. Most Americans are ignorant to the fact that there was a precedent: we just think that they unjustifiably burned our capitol.

  

Brown's Point (about 2 miles north of Queenston on the way to Niagara-On-The-Lake) . . . this should have been with the entry for Queenston Heights, but we visited the site on a different day and I forgot to add it. The stone marker states, "Here General Sir Isaac Brock called out on his way to Queenston Heights 13 October 1812, 'Push On York Volunteers.'"

Fort George . . . Niagara-On-The-Lake.
Some years before the War of 1812, the British built this fort as a counter to the American fortification Fort Niagara, which is situated opposite the river. Early in the war, Brock used the Fort George as his headquarters.  And during the Battle of Queenston Heights, the fort's artillery was engaged with Fort Niagara.

Raising the Union Jack.
Later, in May of 1813, US forces directed a large-scale amphibious assault against the fort, forcing the British to abandon it and vacate the area.  As they fled, British forces destroyed most of the buildings within the installation. US troops made extensive repairs to the fort and used it as a base of operations for another attempted invasion of Canada.

However, after being checked at Stoney Creek and Beaver Dams, the US forces ultimately withdrew back across the river to New York . . . of course, after torching Newark.

The fort was later abandoned by the British for the more strategic Fort Mississauga (see below a bit), and the only original structure dating to the War of 1812 is the powder magazine. However, what has been recreated is extensive and captures a good bit of British military life from the period.

On the day we visited there were a large number of historical interpreters portraying British Regulars and a Fife and Drum Corps.

We were able to engage in discussion with a few of the knowledgeable historical interpreters, but there were no great revelations. I think, by this time in the trip, we had come across much of the varied opinions we were likely to experience. Maybe if these conversations had occurred earlier in the trip they would have made a greater impression.

Dudeboy relishing steak and kidney pie at the Olde Angel Inn located in Niagara-On-The-Lake. The original establishment was built in 1789, but destroyed during the "Burning of Newark" (Niagara) in 1813. It was rebuilt in 1816 and is Ontario's oldest operating inn.

The McFarland House just south of Niagara-On-The-Lake . . . according to the historic plaque:

This Georgian style house was built in 1800 by John McFarland (1757-1815) and his sons, on land granted by the Crown. It is one of the oldest surviving structures in the Niagara district. During the War of 1812 it was used as a hospital by both British and American forces and a British battery, located behind the house, protected the river. In 1813, John McFarland was taken prisoner by the Americans following their capture of Fort George. When he returned in 1815, much of his property had been destroyed and the house badly damaged. The home was repaired and remained in the McFarland family for several generations.

The 1812 Rose in the gardens of the McFarland House. This is the official rose chosen to commemorate The War of 1812 Bicentennial Celebration of Upper Canada.

Fort Mississauga . . . Niagara-On-The-Lake. Access is by way of a golf course (supposedly the oldest in North America). It is amazing this thing still survives, especially given its primo location on the lake.

From the historical plaque:

This tower and earthwork are all that survive of the barracks, guardroom, and cells of Fort Mississauga. Built between 1814 and 1816 to replace Fort George as the counterpoise to the American Fort Niagara immediately opposite, it was garrisoned until 1826. Repaired and rearmed following the Rebellion of 1837, it continued to be maintained until 1854 in response to border disputes with the United States. It was manned during the tense years of the American Civil War and the Fenian scare of 1866, but by 1870 it was no longer considered of military value.

I must say I do enjoy visiting these out of the way and largely forgotten historic sites . . . of course for reasons of education, but also it enables us to visit off the beaten path non-touristy locations (which is kinda funny because at the moment I am talking about a place located in the uber-touristy Niagara-On-The-Lake). Often these are beautiful sites, like Fort Mississauga, but they also can afford the intrepid adventurer a chance to actually see places usually known only to the locals.        

Old Fort Niagara on the distant US shore (as seen from just behind Fort Mississauga). It gives one a clear indication of just how close these forts are situated. Unfortunately, we were unable to visit Old Fort Niagara on this trip. It will be part of the itinerary for the The War of 1812 . . . Year Three Trip ©  next year.

Niagara-on-the-Lake . . . Butler's Barracks. Because barracks situated closer to the American shore had been within range of bombardment during the war, new barracks were built at this location. Some of the structures that remain on the site were constructed just after the war in 1818.

Raid on Fort Schlosser . . . 1813. This historical plaque is located along the Niagara Parkway near Chippawa in the King's Bridge Park (which is situated at the confluence of Welland River and the Niagara River and a good deal south of where we had been earlier in the day). The marker states:

At daybreak on July 5, 1813, a British and Canadian force, consisting of some 35 militia and a small detachment of the 49th Regiment, embarked in this vicinity to attack Fort Schlosser. This American depot (now within Niagara Falls, New York) was situated at the southern terminus of the Lewiston Portage, and was an important military trans-shipment point. The attacking force, commanded by Lieut.-Col. Thomas Clark of the 2nd Regiment, Lincoln Militia, surprised the U.S. garrison and encountered little resistance. They captured a gunboat, two bateaux, a brass cannon and a substantial quantity of small arms and supplies. While re-embarking, they were attacked by local American militia, but suffered no casualties.

Burning of Bridgewater Mill (near Niagara Falls) . . . from nearby marker:

In the late 1790's the river flowed swiftly around these islands. The Bridgewater Mills, a water powered saw and grist mill and an iron foundry, where the first bar iron was made in Canada, were located here. The Mills were burned by the retreating American Army after the Battle of Lundy's Lane on July 26, 1814, and were not rebuilt.

2013 A.S.S.E.S. Big South Fork/Pickett Area

This past Friday through Sunday Dudeboy, Uncle Vic and I joined the rest of the A.S.S.E.S (the Arch Seekers of the SouthEastern States) for our biannual arch weekend. This year we (with the help of Ken P., Keith G., Travis B., and Greg W.) led the group on several hikes in the BSF/Pickett area of Kentucky and Tennessee. The photos that follow are just a few of the arches we visited. We had perfect weather, and Keith kept us stuffed.

We saw several bear prints at different locations. Also, a couple of copperheads were spied by some of the members of the group on different days.

We named this undocumented arch Yellowjacket for this site will forever be associated with a blitzkrieg attack by a nest of yellowjackets.  Alas, poor Dudeboy and I took the brunt of the strike as Dudeboy was stung three times and I got hit four times.

Can you see the little critter camouflaged in the leaves? Take a gander at the next picture for the reveal.

Buzzard Rock in McCreary County, Ky.

Indian Pipe, or the Corpse Plant . . . this is a pretty cool plant for it lacks chlorophyll.  It gets nutrients by being parasitic.

Our day with Wendell

Here is a "photo essay" from our portrait sitting with Wendell Decker.  I am not gonna go through all of the details of the process, which was fairly involved, for the photos should be fairly self-explanatory. Of course, Wendell made it all look effortless. By the way, here is a pretty good article about Wendell in the local paper. 

Coming into view . . .

 Looking through Wendell's camera with my camera.  This is what the photographer sees.

Waiting for the exposure . . .

Wendell in the "dark room."

Going into the bath . . .  

 The image emerges . . . 

Killing time while the plates dry.

On the drying rack.

Heating the plates to prep for the varnish to adhere.

Varnishing the photos.

The one of a kind finished product. 

Ambrotypes, Ferrotypes & the 150th Chickamauga

Dudeboy and I spent a good deal of this past week in the past.  Tuesday we visited local collodion photographer Wendell Decker.  It was a great experience as he took the time to explain the whole process to us in detail. 

The above image of Dudeboy is a ferrotype . . . which is a photograph created on a piece of metal (traditionally iron and not tin as the misnomer "tintype" would imply) which is then coated. I mentioned to Wendell that he had to be part photographer and chemist.  He added artist, historian, educator, etc. The man certainly knows his stuff.
 

For our joint portrait we chose an ambrotype, which is sorta like the ferrotype but the image is created on a sheet of glass using the same wet plate collodion process. After that, just silver remains on the glass. The result is a negative made positive when a black varnish is applied. So, in the above photo, everything that is black is actually plain glass . . . until that varnish is applied to the back. Wendell also praised the image quality. He said this process produced detail that was much better than film or digital can attain. In many instances often the old ways are the best ways.     

And then Friday through Sunday (we missed the activities on Thursday) we traveled to north Georgia for the 150th Anniversary Battle of Chickamauga put on by the Blue Gray Alliance.

And it rained.  And then it rained some more . . . as evidenced by our campfire. But the weather finally cleared and we participated in some long sustained battles. Unfortunately, I am not able to take the camera out on the field with me at reenactments (I wish I could at times, because I could get some great images), so most of what I capture at these events is of camp-life.

Downtime playing cards and waiting out the rain.

The War of 1812 . . . Year Two, Part 6 . . . Queenston Heights

Above, Brock's Monument (note Dudeboy and Dr. J for scale) at the Battle of Queenston Heights (Oct 13, 1812).  Queenston Heights was the first major battle of the War of 1812, and one of the first of the many bumbling disasters perpetrated by the US forces . . . which continued throughout much of the war. Still, you can't say it was the first, given the embarrassments at Fort Michilimackinac (Fort Mackinac) and Hull's surrender of Detroit. However, while the British repulsed this early concerted effort by the US to invade Canada, they did suffer the loss of  the irreplaceable General Brock.

An odd little aside about the debacles at Fort Michilimackinac and Detroit centers around US Lieutenant Porter Hanks.  He was the commander of Fort Michilimackinac who surrendered the fort without a fight. Forward to Detroit where he was waiting for the pending court martial . . . long story short, he was one of only seven Americans killed. A British cannonball cut him in half. Obviously, this was a man not destined for greatness.  

This is actually the second monument to Brock to be built on the battlefield . . . the first was bombed by terrorists! It is actually a pretty interesting story that centers around a man named Benjamin Lett. Lett had little love for British rule and its Tory militia. He stirred up a bit of trouble at the time of the Upper Canada Rebellion with the murder of a British Loyalist who was involved in the Caroline Affair (apparently there is no real evidence that he perpetrated the crime, but it did not matter for the Tories were convinced of his guilt). While he is mostly remembered for the bombing of the Brock Monument, Lett was also involved in a lot of other questionable actions before being poisoned in the US. While the focus of our trip was the War of 1812, we were continually encountering sites pertaining to incidents and rebellions we knew little or nothing about . . . like the Upper Canada Rebellion (1837), Lower Canadian Rebellion (1837), and the Fenian Raids (1866-1871). We will come back to some of this with our non-War of 1812 entries for the trip.

I suppose you might wonder why Lett's bombed a monument dedicated to the War of 1812. Well, as the Canadian Encyclopedia explains that "Although Brock was almost considered a saint by the Loyalists of Upper Canada, some viewed his monument as a symbol of the arrogant Tory militia and of British rule; it made an ideal target for vengeance."

Of course, we climbed the almost 190 feet and 235 steps to the top of the monument, and were treated to this view. The wind was really whipping up there. I must add, I did nothing to change the color in this photo.

In 1929 lightning struck Brock's statue atop the monument, severely damaging it and sending pieces to the ground.  Fast forward to the 1960s: students from the nearby Brock University "found it" stored and decided that it needed to be liberated. The pieces were then removed to a new location on the campus of the university.  It was only recently that the Niagara Parks Commission reclaimed the arm, but apparently a portion of the torso still resides at the university.

Our personal tour guide who is appropriately named Brock! His family owned some of the battlefield at the time of Queenston Heights, so his name is tied to family as well as Canadian history. I must add that Brock was very pleased to lead a tour for people who had a genuine interest in the battle.  It was a very hot day, and we told him he did not need to wear the uniform on our account.  He dismissed that by stating that since we made the effort of traveling from Kentucky, he would go full uniform! In the photo above, Brock is relating the story of how the Americans scaled the cliffs that had been viewed as "unassailable." The inscription states:

An unguarded trail up this steep cliff was the only route which the Americans had to the heights of Queenston. The trail was to your right but does not exist any longer. Trapped on the river shore by unrelenting gunfire, the Americans contemplated a desperate action: the ascent of this cliff. The British, positioned on a ledge between here and the Village of Queenston did not detect the movement and the attackers took the Heights by surprise. However, later in the battle this cliff became a cruel barrier between the Americans and safety on the other shore.

"The loss of the redan battery and Brock's death" . . . inscription from the marker:

On the river banks below here, the Americans were trapped. To the right the Americans scaled the river cliff and seized the Heights above. To the left the British held the Village of Queenston. A British 18-pounder cannon situated here within an earthwork called a "redan". On October 13, 1812, this cannon hindered the reinforcement of the American troops trapped below. Arriving from Fort George, Major-General Brock came here to direct the defence of Queenston and await reinforcements, however the small enemy detachment which had scaled the cliffs behind the redan made a surprise attack forcing the British to retreat into the village. Brock led two hundred men in a counter-attack during which he was mortally wounded. Another assault, led by Brock's aide de camp, John Macdonell, was repulsed by the Americans who were soon firmly in control of the Heights.

Another marker not far from here reads in part:

While the Americans controlled Queenston Heights they were prevented from properly establishing their position by the harassment of 120 Indians under Chief Norton. In the meantime, Regular British troops and Canadian militia were arriving from Fort George and other outposts. Under the direction of Major General Roger Sheaffe, they climbed the heights of Queenston and assembled for the last battle.

Brock's Cenotaph . . . supposedly this monument marks the spot where Brock was killed, but the precise location in unknown. Moments before he was shot, Brock was said to exclaim "Take breath, boys. You will need it in a few moments." Nearby is a monument to Brock's horse Alfred. Of course, there is some dispute whether Alfred was even at the battle, as Brock (like most commanders) had several horses.

"Sheaffe's Path to Victory" . . . this small monument marks the location where the British forces (First Nations, British Regulars, and Canadian Militia) scaled the escarpment for a surprise attack at the rear of the US forces. This maneuver forced the surrender of nearly 1000 US troops. Sheaffe's accolades were short lived for he was later severely criticized for his actions at the Battle of York and subsequently recalled to Britain.

The remains of Fort Riall (above) and Fort Drummond (not pictured) which are located near Brock's Monument. These fortifications were built later in the war during the year 1814. British controlled them for about a month after completion. The Americans took control after the Battle of Chippawa . . . and promptly lost it back to the Brits in the aftermath of Lundy's Lane. This area was a key for the protection of the Lower Niagara River.

Dr. J and Dudeboy inhaling some Laura Secord chocolate at the Laura Secord Homestead. The marker states:

Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Laura Ingersoll came to Upper Canada with her father in 1795, and settled in this area. About two years later she married James Secord, a United Empire Loyalist, and within seven years they had moved to this site from nearby St. David's. From here during the war of 1812, Laura Secord set out on an arduous 19-mile journey to warn the local British commander, Lieutenant James Fitzgibbon, of an impending American attack. The courage and tenacity displayed on this occasion in June 1813 places her in the forefront of the province's heroines. Mrs. Secord's house, a simple frame building, was restored (1971-72) and remains as a memorial to the exceptional act of patriotism.

We have encountered the story of Laura Secord in a couple of earlier entries . . . here and here. So, I am not going to elaborate much more other than to say we sure did enjoy "her" chocolate.

The Burning of St. Davids (1814) . . .

On July 18th, 1814, during the final American campaign on the Niagara frontier, Major-General Peter B. Porter sent a detachment of militia from the United States encampment at Queenston to attack St. Davids. This force, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Isaac W. Stone, was joined later by a small group of American regulars. Despite opposition from the 1st Lincoln Militia, the enemy captured the village, looted it and burned most of the buildings. Stone was severely censured for this destruction of private property and summarily dismissed from the United States army.

The Battle of Cook's Mills (October 19, 1814). This was the last engagement of the war in the Niagara Peninsula. From the Historic Places of Canada website:

The Battle of Cook’s Mills was an important engagement for British and Canadian troops during the War of 1812. After his unsuccessful siege of Fort Erie, Lieutenant-General Gordon Drummond retreated west and concentrated his army around the Chippawa River. In October 1814, American forces under Major-General George Izard advanced west to assault Fort Niagara. Finding Drummond firmly entrenched along the Chippawa River, Izard sent a force of about 900 men to test the British right flank on Lyon’s Creek. On October 19, at Cook's Mills, a heavy skirmish took place, involving men of the Glengarry Light Infantry and the 82nd, 100th and 104th Regiments. Led by Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Myers the British and Canadian troops forced the Americans to withdraw and retreat to Fort Erie.