Winfield Scott
and the War of 1812

Queenston

by Rich Barbuto

Two American armies were gathering along the Niagara. Brigadier General Smyth assembled a regular force at Buffalo but the actual commander in the area was militia Major General Stephen Van Rensselaer. In an act of insubordination, Smyth cravenly refused to cooperate with (or even meet) Van Rensselaer who was assembling and training his largely militia force at Lewiston. Van Rensselaer was a federalist while Smyth was a Jeffersonian republican. However perhaps more to the point, Smyth would not stoop to accept orders from a militia general, even one who outranked him and was put in command by Henry Dearborn, Smyth's superior. Unwilling to push the issue, Van Rensselaer decided to forgo Smyth's support and to lead the invasion on his own. After all, he outnumbered the British forces by nearly three to one along the lower Niagara.

Van Rensselaer ordered a careful reconnaissance of the river and decided to cross from Lewiston to Queenston. These small villages were at the base of the 200-foot tall escarpment. The banks of the Niagara were about fifteen feet tall but there were breaks at the villages allowing boats easier access and egress. The British had a few batteries covering the crossing site; the most formidable was an eighteen-pound gun half way up the escarpment on a narrow shelf. Van Rensselaer had a dozen boats with a carrying capacity of about 500. He therefore planned to cross 250 militia and 250 regulars in the first wave. As the boats returned, more troops would cross over. He put his aide, Solomon Van Rensselaer who was also a cousin, in command of the militiamen.

Winfield Scott learned of Van Rensselaer's plans quite by accident. He secured Smyth's permission to offer his services to the militia general and he pushed his two companies of artillerists and his guns on to Lewiston. Reporting in to the surprised Van Rensselaer, Scott was denied permission to cross the river. Instead, his guns would support the crossing from the New York shore. Disappointed though he was, Scott watched as the battle unfolded.

The first wave of boats became separated almost as soon as they departed the American shore in the darkness. The Niagara actually flows in three directions at Lewiston. The water spills out of the narrow gorge at the edge of the escarpment into a wider channel. The central flow of water is northward toward Lake Ontario but there are strong back currents closer to the two shores. These contrary flows cause eddies and whirlpools which are a challenge to the best boatsmen. Some boats made it to the landing area at Queenston. Others ran into the high embankments. Three boats carrying regulars could not escape the strong current and returned to the New York shore rather than be swept down river. Some boats disgorged their entire crew and were left without anyone to row them back to pick up the second wave. Some boats ran directly into British defenders who secured the surrender of the passengers without a fight. All the while, British guns skipped round shot across the water terrorizing the Americans who were literally rowing for their lives.

Solomon Van Rensselaer's party landed at the base of the escarpment. Within moments they were caught in a firefight with two companies of British regulars. Wounded several times, Colonel Van Rensselaer gave up command and was transported back to the American shore. Captain John E. Wool, a regular, took command and presciently moved deeper into the gorge. There his men discovered a narrow trail leading up to the crest of the gorge. Slowly but unseen by the British defenders, Wool moved his small command of about sixty soldiers upward. Upon arriving at the top of the escarpment, Wool carefully positioned his troops above the 18-pound gun. Wool did not learn until later that General Isaac Brock himself was at the gun directing its fire. Brock was at Fort George to the north when he heard the cannon fire. He put his troops into motion and he himself rode directly to Queenston to take charge of this most desperate fight.

Wool ordered his men to attack down the slope and they quickly overran the battery. Brock withdrew with his scattered troops to the bottom of the escarpment. Quickly rallying his men, Brock understood that the pendulum of combat had just swung in favor of the Americans. He gathered the defenders around him, mounted his horse, and led a counterattack to regain his lost cannon. As he approached the battery, an American stepped out from cover and shot Brock in the chest. Within moments the brave Isaac Brock was dead. His dispirited troops withdrew into the village of Queenston.

At this point, the battle was at a stalemate. A small contingent of Americans set up a defense on the escarpment but the British had secured Queenston itself. Seeing multitudes of wounded and dead returning to their side, hundreds of American militiamen flatly refused orders to climb into the few boats that were available. General Van Rensselaer was livid at this craven behavior but no amount of hectoring would convince hundreds of militiamen to cross the river. At this point Scott once again offered his services and Van Rensselaer relented and ordered Scott to cross to add his support to the fragile American foothold.

Scott moved to the top of the escarpment and took charge of about 300 Americans, both regulars and militia. There were no entrenching tools and cartridges were in short supply. As the afternoon wore on, Indians approached the American lines and took pot shots at the formed troops. The whooping and hollering terrified the Americans. Their backs were against the crest of the cliff and there were no boats available to take them to safety. They rightly feared for their scalps. Meanwhile, Brigadier General Roger Hale Sheaffe, now the senior British general, approached with the forces from Fort George. He wisely moved along a road far from the river's shore and he mounted the escarpment without being challenged by Scott.

Scott himself sensed the vanishing courage of his men most of whom had never seen him before much less serve under him. Scott gave a rousing patriotic speech that temporarily steeled their resolve. Sheaffe, however, directed his troops in a violent charge that instantly broke the defenders' line. To his mortification, hundreds of Americans appeared from behind cover to surrender. A total of more than 900 Americans were killed or captured.

Scott was treated with gentlemanly courtesy. Although a prisoner, he was lodged at a hotel in Newark close by Fort George. Two Indians entered the hotel and confronted Scott in a narrow hallway. Scott was prepared to fight for his life when the commotion drew the attention of a British officer who drove off the two natives. Transferred to a prison ship anchored off of Quebec City, Scott was eventually released on parole and he returned to Washington and to a hero's welcome.

Winfield Scott and the War of 1812

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© Copyright 2005 by Rich Barbuto.
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