British Ships Raid The Coast

During the War of 1812, lakeshore communities along the south shore of Lake Ontario were vulnerable to British attack as British ships controlled the lake early in the war and raided settlements at will. Defense fell to local militia and armed settlers. At first some settlers negotiated with the British, exchanging supplies for promises of safety, but later they resisted with rifles and cannons. British forces raided Charlotte in 1812, twice in 1813, and again in 1814, raided settlers along Oak Orchard Creek in 1813, raided Sodus Bay in 1813, fired on Pultneyville and took supplies in 1814, and captured Fort Niagara in 1813. In July 1813, settlers returning from Oswego with supplies escaped pursuit by a British warship on Lake Ontario, and later that month militia at Oak Orchard Creek captured the British captain and repelled the attack. Bathshua Sheffield Brown, whose farm on Fisher's Island had been destroyed in a British raid during the American Revolution, encountered that same captain again after his capture ashore during the War of 1812 and released him on the condition that he never return to the area.

Carlton, New York · United States