In late fall 1812, neat lines of two-man tents stretched down to the Saranac River, sheltering more than 700 soldiers, many suffering from dysentery, pneumonia, and measles, with little protection from sleet, snow, and bitter winds. On November 25th, 1,300 more wet and discouraged troops arrived after General Henry Dearborn's failed attempt to capture Montreal, which ended in retreat at Lacolle, Quebec, after friendly fire reversed an early success. In a pre-dawn raid, a detachment led by Colonel Zebulon Pike drove Canadian and Indian defenders from a blockhouse, only to be fired on by other American reinforcements; as Canadian forces rallied, the Americans withdrew, leaving two dead, five missing, and 13 wounded. Worsening weather, lack of tents, low rations, and militia refusal to cross the Canadian border forced Dearborn to return here, where Pike, placed in charge of the cantonment, ordered log huts built by Christmas Day, but more than 200 men died of disease and exposure before spring. In March 1813, Pike and 400 men marched west to defend Sacketts Harbor, New York, and some froze to death on the way. Pike later led a successful assault on York, where he was killed. On July 31, 1813, the vacant cantonment was burned during British Lieutenant Colonel John Murray's raid on Plattsburgh.