Tuscaroras Defend Lewiston Against 1813 British Attack

Early in the winter of 1813, British forces and their Native allies assaulted the Niagara Frontier, killing about a dozen Lewiston residents, looting buildings, and burning the town to the ground. In subsequent raids, almost every structure from Lewiston to Buffalo, 30 miles south, was destroyed, and thousands of refugees known as the sufferers fled east to Batavia, Rochester, and Central New York. After Americans captured and then abandoned British-controlled Fort George near Newark, burning the village before retreating, more than 1,500 British troops, including First Nations allies, crossed the Niagara River, invaded the U.S. at Five Mile Meadows, captured Fort Niagara in a nighttime attack, and then burned Lewiston and surrounding towns. As Lewiston citizens fled, local Tuscarora men entered the fight and, though outnumbered 30 to 1, used horns from the heights of the Escarpment and a rush down the slope to create the impression of a large unseen force, halting the enemy long enough for residents to escape. The British and their allies also burned the Tuscarora Village, and with Tuscarora help Lewiston's survivors fled east along Ridge Road while the pursuit continued for nine miles before the attackers gave up. After the war ended, many Lewistonians returned to rebuild, and between 1815 and 1825 Lewiston became a thriving community and reclaimed its title as Gateway to the West.

Lewiston, New York · United States