Forsyth’s Raid 1813

On the night of February 6-7, 1813, Major Benjamin Forsyth of the United States Army led a detachment of regulars and militia numbering about 200 men across the frozen St. Lawrence River from Morristown, N.Y., and attacked Brockville. The village was garrisoned by a company of Leeds Militia who, taken by surprise, could offer no resistance. The raiders released prisoners from the jail, took a quantity of arms, horses and cattle, and carried off a number of residents. The resentment aroused by this raid led to the successful British attack on Ogdensburg, N.Y., February 22, 1813.

Ontario · Canada