THIS WEEK in the War of 1812 (August 3-August 9, 1814)

U.S. Fort Besieged.

Another U.S. invasion of Canada is starting to come apart.

Siege of Fort Erie
(via Wikipedia)

After the brutal July 25 Battle of Lundy’s Lane, U.S. troops under Major General Jacob Brown withdraw south along the Niagara River — between what is now Ontario, Canada and New York State–  to Fort Erie, a British fort captured by the Americans on July 3. Brown is severely wounded at Lundy’s Lane and is about to be evacuated across the Niagara to Buffalo, New York. He and his remaining brigade commander, Brigadier General Eleazer Wheelock Ripley have not seen eye-to-eye since Lundy’s Lane. And when Ripley suggests abandoning the 60-year-old fort and taking the U.S. Army back across the Niagara to Buffalo, Brown sends for another general, Brigadier Edmund Gates to take over command of his battered army, which numbers about 2,500 effectives.

A British-Canadian-Native American force of 3,000 under the command of Lieutenant General Gordon Drummond arrives at Fort Erie on August 4 and begins to lay siege to the post on August 4. The slow pace of Drummond’s pursuit gives the Americans time to enlarge the size of the fort and beef up its decrepit defenses overlooking where Lake Erie flows into the Niagara River

While his troops set up siege lines and earthworks, Gordon — who is also lieutenant governor of Upper Canada (today’s Province of Ontario) — sends a 600-man raiding party across the river to capture or destroy American supplies and provisions. The attackers are made up of troops from three British regiments — the 41st, 89th and 100th Foot — as well as soldiers from the 104th (New Brunswick) Regiment.

But the bridge the British need to cross to get to raid Buffalo and the Navy yard at Black Rock on the New York shore has been destroyed. And a detachment of 240 men from the 1st U.S. Rifle Regiment — along with some volunteers — open fire on the raiders, preventing them from repairing the bridge. The British lose 10 killed, 17 wounded and 5 missing to gunfire before withdrawing back across the Niagara.

!st U.S. Rifle Regiment
(U.S. Army Center of Military History)