The Turning Point - June 6th, 1813

On June 6th, 1813, during the Battle of Stoney Creek, a British night raid that had penetrated the American camp undetected came close to collapse when a bayonet-only assault on the American advance line failed, British troops silhouetted by campfires came under heavy fire from the main American force on the ridge by this knoll, and unit control broke down. As many British troops broke and ran, Major Charles Plenderleath of the 49th Regiment called for volunteers to rush the American artillery on this knoll after it had just fired. Sergeant Alexander Fraser led about thirty men, including his brother Corporal Peter Fraser, in a bayonet charge that overran the battery and scattered the infantry supporting the guns before they could fire again. In the ensuing melee, Fraser captured the American commander, Brigadier General John Chandler, and his second-in-command, Brigadier General William Winder. Though wounded and unhorsed, Plenderleath withdrew his men and prisoners, and the now leaderless American army began a hasty retreat back to Niagara. The charge initiated by Plenderleath and carried out by Fraser was the turning point of the battle, and for their service at Stoney Creek Fraser was promoted from the ranks and ended the war a lieutenant, while Plenderleath received a knighthood.

Ontario · Canada