Winfield Scott
and the War of 1812

The Chryler's Field Campaign

by Rich Barbuto

Overall command of the forces along the Canadian border was soon given to James Wilkinson. Wilkinson spends the month of September at Fort George before moving to his headquarters at Sackett's Harbor on Lake Ontario. Most of the regulars at Fort George are ordered to move to a rendezvous point on Grenadier Island near the mouth of the Saint Lawrence River. Scott is placed in command of the remnants of regulars and militia at Fort George. He fumes because he understands full well that glory and advancement lie eastward, where the next American invasion is sure to fall. Declaring that Fort George is secure by its garrison, Scott disobeyed orders and marches 800 regulars eastward toward Sackett's Harbor. Eventually Scott secured orders from the Secretary of War, John Armstrong. Scott abandoned his slowly moving column and rides ahead to find Wilkinson. By early December, the dwindling garrison of New York militiamen abandon Fort George but not before a cruel and ill-advised burning of the houses of Newark.

The story of the slow movement of the six thousand American troops with their ill commander down the Saint Lawrence is familiar. Scott linked up with Wilkinson's flotilla on 6 November. Wilkinson had ordered Scott court-martialed when Scott was a captain and there is no love lost between the two now. The following day, a small force of British and Canadian regulars departed Kingston and evade the US Naval vessels positioned to prevent such an event. Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Morrison and 800 men trailed the Americans as they moved slowly toward Montreal. As the Americans approach a long set of rapids, Wilkinson ordered Brigadier General Jacob Brown to disembark with his brigade and clear the northern (Canadian) shore of defenders. Brown took Scott with him.

While Brown and Scott successfully cleared skirmishers from the river's edge, the large American army at Chrysler's Field was handily defeated by a much smaller force. Morrison placed his men in a solid position west of the Americans. His right flank was anchored on the Saint Lawrence River while his left flank ended at an impenetrable swamp. The Americans, under John Boyd, launched several attacks. The advancing Americans could not dent the British whose rate of fire far surpassed that of their foe. Maneuvering as if on a parade ground, the British units were always postured to most effectively meet the ponderous, even clumsy, American attacks.

Scott seems to have taken away two important lessons from this failed campaign. First, only bringing American troops up to British standards of drill could give an opportunity for superior US numbers to win battles and campaigns. This lesson would be decisive in the next campaign. Second, Jacob Brown was a fighter like himself in many regards. And therefore Brown was worthy of loyal support, unlike Dearborn, Wilkinson, or Boyd.

Wilkinson called off the campaign. He blamed the failure on General Wade Hampton whose column was arrested at Chateauguay in October. Both of these senior commanders had so discredited themselves that the president and secretary of war were persuaded that major changes in the command structure were required before victory was possible. The army went into winter quarters just across the border in New York. Without shelter or proper food, American troops suffered greatly in the typically cruel winter weather until huts could be constructed and food deliveries became regular.

Scott did not share these trials with his men. Instead, he was recalled to Washington where he performed duties for the Secretary of War. In this he must have been successful. The president promoted Scott to the rank of brigadier general and sent him to the Niagara Frontier to re-establish the American position there. Scott was 27 years old.

Winfield Scott and the War of 1812

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© Copyright 2005 by Rich Barbuto.
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