Dueling Cannons

Control of the Niagara River was strategically important because it opened water routes from the Great Lakes to the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and even the Gulf of Mexico, giving access to trade routes deep into the continent's interior. After the British withdrew from Fort Niagara in 1796, they built Fort George on the Canadian side of the river, and because the two forts stood within cannon range of each other, both sides exchanged artillery fire. Fort George's higher ground initially gave the British an advantage, but the American garrison answered by removing the roofs from two redoubts and the Mess House, also called the French Castle, and moving cannons to the upper floors. During the War of 1812, these cross-border exchanges accompanied larger military operations. On October 13, 1812, American forces under Major General Stephen van Rensselaer briefly seized Queenston Heights before being driven back across the river, while Fort George and Fort Niagara traded fire, and on November 21 the two forts again exchanged cannon fire after the failed American invasion of Upper Canada. In 1813, combined American naval and land forces burned York, the capital of Upper Canada, where General Zebulon Pike was killed attacking Fort York. In spring 1813, a combined American force of naval ships and infantry attacked Fort George under Commodore Isaac Chauncey and Colonel Winfield Scott, with Oliver Hazard Perry volunteering to command one of the ships. The British garrison of regulars, Grand River warriors, and militia resisted along the lakeshore, but General John Vincent, fearing encirclement, retreated toward Burlington Heights. American forces then spent the summer trying unsuccessfully to capture Burlington Heights. With men and supplies running short and winter approaching, American General George McClure ordered Newark and Fort George burned and withdrew to Fort Niagara. In winter 1813, British General Gordon Drummond vowed revenge through sword and fire for Newark's destruction and ordered an attack across the river. Colonel John Murray and about 550 British soldiers landed at Five Mile Meadow, quickly overwhelmed resistance, and had Fort Niagara in British hands by 5am. Subsequent raids destroyed Lewiston, Youngstown, Manchester, and Fort Schlosser, British forces crossed the Niagara again on July 24, 1814, driving American guards from Lewiston, and American troops reoccupied Fort Niagara on May 22, 1815. During one exchange of cannon fire at Fort Niagara, Betsy Doyle, wife of a private in the American Artillery who had been captured at Queenston Heights, helped prepare hot shot for a cannon firing from the mess house; because hot shot was heated until cherry red and could set ships or wooden buildings ablaze, her action was celebrated and compared in the following days to Joan of Arc.

Porter, New York · United States