\
THE STORY
OF THE
BATTLE OF STONY GREEK
BY
E. B. BiGGAR, Esq.
(AS PUBLISHED IN THE SPECTATOR, JUNE, 1873)
Hamilton^ June ^M, i8Sg.
INTRODUCTORY.
At midnight of the 26th of May, 1813, the
Americans, after a long time spent in prepar-
ation, completed their final arrangements for
the attack on the town and forts at the mouth
of the Niagara. The town was then called
Newark or Fort George ; and the structure
which overlooked the extreme mouth of the
river, immediately below the present town of
Niagara, was known as Fort Masspssauga.
Covered by a dense fog the American troops
embarked in vessels from Fort Niagara
directly opposite Newark, early on the morn-
ing of the 27th. To cover the embarkation
and attack a heavy cannonade was opened
from Fort Niagara, assisted by broadsides
from two schooners which had been brought
a(!ross the rive: by means of sweeps for the
purpose of quieting the two cannon that had
been planted on the river bank near Fort
George ; by broadsides from another which
appeared to the north of the lighthouse, close
to the shore, so as to enfilade the battery and
cross the fire of the other two schooners ; and
by five schooners, a frigate, and a brig which
anchored ofi the shore to the north so as to
cover the landing of the troops. Maj-Gen.
Dearborn commanded the Americans in this
expedition, but did not land in person to head
the attack. Brigadier-General John Vincent
commanded on the side of the British. Col.
Scott was appointed to lead the vanguard of
the Americans, supported by several divisions
of riflemen, infantry and artillery. The reserve
consisted of Macomb's artillery, and marines
from the squadron, and 400 seamen under
Commodore Chauncey, making in all an
active force of 6,000 men. To oppose this the
British had about 1,000 mem, composed of reg-
ulars, militia and Indians. But the disparity
in numbers was not the only disadvantage the
British had to contend with ; the fortifications
were insufficient ; indeed, scarcely tenable.
They were short of powder— so much so that
"the guns of Fort George were compelled to
remain i\ttA while Commodore Chauncey
was sounding the shore that (previous) even-
ing within half gunshot ; " the men were
exhausted from their long and severe duty in
watching for the long expected invasion —
strong guards had lined the river and lake
banks both night and day, for an indefinite
time before this, and the duty is remembered
by all to have been the severest of the year ;
and, worse than all, the heavy fog thai
shrouded everything on the morning of the
conflict made it impossible to discover from
which quarter the attack of the enemy was to
be expected. Under this unfortunate aspect
Vincent disposed hii, men so as to protect
all sides of^ his position. Col. Harvey was
posted to the right of Fort George, his
detachment extending along the river as far as
what was then known as Brown's Point ; Col.
Myers was stationed to the left, or west side of
Fort Massassauga, to repel any attack made
from Lake Ontario ; the General himself took
command of the centre, occupying the fort
and town ; and a few companies were placed
in the rear to prevent a surprise from the
ravines inland from the river and lake. Had
the Americans exhibited a little of the
"strategy" to which they boastingly attri-
buted their successes over their Southern
brethren in their late civil war, they might
have cut of! Vincent's retreat entirely by
sweeping the Queenston road, and have made
the whole British army prisoners. The battle
of Stoney Creek would then not have been
fought, and presuming that the Americans
would still have held Vork ^the former name
of Toronto, then in the hands of the Ameri-
cans), the whole Upper Province would have
fallen into the possession ot the enemy. But
the incapacity of the American General saved
— in this instance as in many others during
the war— the Canadians from disaster and
possible subjugation. The cannt>n had been
Dooming long before daylight, but the enemy
were not discovered until approaching day-
light, when, through the stagnant mist they
were seen approaching off the Four-mile
Creek close to the lake shore. But the fog
rendered it impossible to ascertain their
movements across the river, or, indeed, not
more than 50 or 60 ycirds away In aliout
one hundred boats and scows they pulled
swiftly to the shore, and, after some op-
position from a detachment of British,
effected their landing. As the morning
advanced the mist began to roll away, and
the movefttents of the enemy became more
evident. Vincent, seeing the attack was
meditated from the lake side only, collected
his men between Fort George and the shore,
and waited their approach. They moved
upon him in three solid columns, supported
by artillery. It was here that the hardest
part of the fighting was done ; but the same
stubborn bravery, the same reckless daring in
the face of an outnumbering foe that had
characterized the heroes of Queenston Heights,
became the mark of distinction now. At
length, after sustaining a severe loss in
officers and men, and pressed hard by super-
ior numbers, Vincent deemed it best to
evacuate the forts, which was done when
they had spiked the guns and destroyed the
ammunition The British then retreated in
order to Beaver Dams, by way of Queenston.
In this retreat about 50 regulars were un-
happily made prisoners ; making the total loss
of the British, in killed, wounded, and
prisoners, 445. The Americans lost 150 in
killed and wounded.
Vincent sent orders to Col. Bishopp, who
then held Fort Erie, and Major Ormsby, who
commanded at Chippewa to evacuate their
posts and join him at Beaver Dams ; the same
orders were conveyed to Capt. Barclay, R.
N., who commanded a body of seamen ; to
two companies of the 8th or King's, and to
all the militia in that part of the country.
They impressed into their service all the
wagons they could find on their way, and by
the morning of the 28th the whole force along
the line had gathered at the Dams. This
place was used as a sort of a depot for
military stores, provisions, and ammunition.
(It was here that the information brought by
our Canadian heroine, Mrs. James Secord,
was the means of surprising and capturing
Colonel BtLTStler's division of 5cx) troops,
50 cavalry, and two guns. ) The troops were
assembled on this morning and the militia and
volunteers were surprised to hear from the com-
mander that they were at liberty to return to
their homes if they chose. An intimation so
strange and unexpected struck them with as-
tonishment and disappointment, as they fully
thought, now that 'he scattered forces were
concentrated in a body, that a determined
attempt would be made to recover Newark
and drive the Americans from the land. This
unusual proceeding appeared the more singular
as the militia had for some time previous
considered themselves indifferently treated ;
but the mystery was soon made clear. They
were told that the army was now about to
retreat, and were given to understand that it
would not permanently stop tiP it arrived at
Kingston — in other words, the peninsula or
Upper Province was to be abandoned. The
impressment of the wagons, the destruction of
the spare stores, the treatment of the militia,
and the unpursued (as yet) retreat of the army,
as well as incidents in the course of official con-
duct at the time, go to prove that ft really was
their determination to withdraw the troops from
the western frontiers, and perhaps leave it a
prey to our acquisitive neighbors. This was
the firm belief of William H. Merritt, who
said in his "Journal of the War of 1812 : " "I
strongly suspected, from the indifferent man-
ner in which the militia were treated, that that
part of the Upper Province was to have been
abandoned, which opinion was entertained by
most people. • * ' I felt in a sad dilemma.
The thought of abandoning the country, and
ledving everything that was near and dear to
me, was most distressing." It is a pity 1 hat
this truth must ])e told and another indirect
stain cast on the military name of Sir George
Prevost. Some few U the militia took adt
vanage of the liberty given them and stayed
to protect their families ; others followed
the army in its retreat westward. Many were
the scenes of sorrow and distress exhibited
to the little army as they passed on, leav-
ing benind them the unprotected and de-
fenceless women and children who expected
the Americans would invade and take poss-
ession of the land ; and sadly thought their
husbands and friends who left them that day
would no more return to press the ground of
their homesteads as Britons
They passed DeCue's — a large two-storey
stone house used as a small military stopping
place — and late at night arrived at the
40-mile Creek, now Grimsby. Early the
next morning Vincent sent Capt. W. H.
Merritt with ten of his mounted yeomen to
reconnnitre the enemy and ascertain how far
they had advanced. With these men he pro-
ceeded cautiously to the 12-miIe Creek, and
there found that an advance of 40 or 50 Amer-
ican horsemen had made their way as far as
De Cue's, but had not appeared in force.
Having sent his men back to Vincent with
this news he went a'one to his home, follow-
ing the lake road, where he remained till mid-
night, then taking a tender farewell of his
family he retraced his steps to the 40-mile
Creek. On arriving here he received an or-
der from the army which had reached Bur-
lington Heights on the night of the 29th, to
remain with a few mounted militiamen until
driven away by the enemy. He had not long
to wait. On the afternoon of that day (May
30th) they had marched within three miles of
him ; and a party of thirty horsemen coming
on his position obliged him to retire before
them. On his joining the main body at the
Heights a relief of picquets under Capt.
Williams was sent out, he takirt; a position at
Barton, to recruit. These picquets were
driven in farther and farther, until, at last,
they were chased up as far as Big Creek, a
stream not more than four miles east of Ham-
ilton. This was on the afternoon of June Sth.
ADVANCE OF THE AMERICANS.
When Vincent retreated towards Queens-
ton he was followed by the American Col.
Scott, who succeeded, as was before stated,
in making prisoners of 50 British regulars.
As soon as they had taken possession of the
now dismantled and untenable fort and town
(consisting of a few ruined houses). Gen.
Dearborn was informed that Col. Proctor
was on his way from the Detroit frontier to
effect a junction with Gen. Vincent at Bur-
lington Heights. Supposing this information
to be correct Dearborn proposed to despatch
part of his army to cut off Vincent's retreat
and thus prevent their joining This was
agreed upon and Gen. Winder, at his own
request, was appointed to the duty. Accor-
dingly he set out, but took the wrong road
and was obliged to return. This caused a
ruinous delay of two days, by which time
Vincent had gained the Heights, and of
course the idea of heading the retreat was
then given up. Dearliorn's intention was to
transport his troops to Burlington Bay by the
fleet, " bui," says Auchinleck, "the cabinet
at Washington had given this arm ol the ex-
pedition a different direction." So two more
days were spent in unresulting deliberations
as to how to proceed. I will be pardoned for
digressing somewhat from the subject to remark
that it was fortunate for the British that they
w;r; opposed by the commander that they were,
(ien. IJearborn was a man much advanced in
years and was suffering from ill health at the
time. In his younger days he h.id distin-
guished himself in the Revolution as a man of
.ictivity and daring ; but was now in his
dotage almost, and had he even possessed
physical health and full powers of mind, it is
doubtful if his abilities as a leader would have
been equal to the task before him. His man-
rtuvres at the taking of York were ill planned
in the extreme, and his action in this and
succeeding enterprises, clumsier and more ill-
planned. The old general was recalled from
his command just a month after the battle of
.Stony Creek, and Gen. Wilkinson, another
old and equally incompetent leader, appointed
as his successor.
Again General Winder started with a bri-
gade in pursuit of the British. This brigade
which included a corps of dragoons ; Col.
Burns' detachment of cavalry (stated by G.
Auchinleck to number 250); and Archer's
and Towson's artillery, amounted to only 800
men, according to J. B. Lossing, the writer of
"Sketches of the War, 1812." Another
American work, however, states them at
1,45 '. Winder pushed rapidly on to the 20-
mile Creek, at which place he was told that
Vincent was posted strongly at Burlington
Heights, and had received reinforcements from
Kingston. Believing this (an invention, no
doubt, of some unscrupulously patriotic den-
izen) to be true, he halted in his pursuit, and
sent a request to Dearborn for more troops.
In compliance with this another brigade was
sent, under the command of General Chan-
dler, who being the senior officer, took
the chief command on his arrival. Lossing
says that Chandler's brigade counted 500 men,
making the total American force 1,300.
Auchinleck, the Canadian historian of the
war, with a fairer appearance of accuracy,
puts them down at 3,450. W. II. Merritt,
speaking of them as encamped at Stony Creek,
says there were " 2,000 on a hill to the right
of the road, and 500 in the lane to the left, in
advance of their artillery " (and cavalry, which
numbered 250), Placing the artillery at the
moderate number of 350, there would then
be a 3,100, Besides these, a body oi troops,
whose number is unknown, came up the lake
in seventeen batteaux. Reducing the conflict-
ing statements of a dozen different authorities
to a fair average, the two brigades could not
have been less than 2,800 men. Chand-
ler and Winder now moved forward to the 40-
mile Creek, where they drove off the mounted
militiamen under Copt. Merritt. Having
here ascertained more accurately the position
and strength of the British they proceeded
on their march, and towards evening on the
5th of June they arrived tired, hungry and
thirsty, at a place which was soon to be the
scene of disaster and defeat to themselves,
but a nost brilliant and glorious success for
the British — Stony Creek.
Before giving a view of the subsequent in-
cidents it may be well to give some idea ol
what constituted Stony Creek and Burling-
ton Heights, so that the reader may bet-
ter understand the relative position and
surroundings of the two armies. Neither
of these two places had any claims at that
time to the title of village even. Stony
Creek was a stream which took its rise in a
swampy tract of woodland some miles beyond
or south of that ridge of land known as the
" mountain," the same ridge over which the
great Niagara thunders, and winding north-
west poured over this ; then running northward
through the present village emptied into a
small lagoon which stretches in from the shore
of Lake Ontario. The creek is not perennial
but in the spring and lall a most beautiful
falls is formed at the escarpment where the
water pours over from its summit in one un-
broken descent of 80 or 100 feet. The great,
symmetrical regular oval wall of grey rocks
from whose summit the water pours into a
rocky basin beneath ; the majestic evergreen
crown of pines and hemlocks encircling and
overlooking its brow with conscious imperi
ousness ; the undergrowth that overhangs
and fringes like a valance the rugged edge of
rocks ; and further on the the shrubbery
which carpets the steep banks of the canon
that gazes on the rich valley beneath ; and
the grand and picturesque boulders piled con-
fusedly together (and which bear still on their
faces the the evidence of a primeval submer-
sion under the waters of old Ontario) make
up a picture which the traveler might look
upon hundreds of times without losing any of
its variety or enchanting picturesqueness,
A'ter leaving the foot of the falls its watfrs
dash gaily down over rocky ledges to the level
below and then course over a complete bed of
small, loose stones to its outlet. From this
it derives its name of " Stoney Creek." Our
ancestors spelt it " Stoney," and that error is
now a confirmed custom with the inhabitants,
though it has been discarded in this sketch,
A narrow, crooked, rough road ran west from
from Queenston to the Heights, and around
the lake to York and Kingston. On this
road, hard by Stony Creek, lived Edward
Brady, who kept a small log tavern. About
a hundrcu yards east of the Creek and nearly
opposite him, lived Stephen Jones (father of
the present judge of the County of Brant),
who also kept a log tavern. Another log
shanty was built close to this, but the occu-
pant's name is in oblivion. Adam Green,
(after whom Greensville is called) lived on
the hill in a log house west oi the creek, on
the spot now occupied by H. Spearle's house.
Just below this on the bank was an old water-
power saw-mill. Nearly a halt mile west of
the creek, and overlooking the battle ground
from a hill on the south was James Gage's
house ; his brother William lived some dirtance
across the road on another hill. The house
of the latter is the only one that still stands
entire, as it stood then. Nearly between these
two, close by the road was a little l"g cabin in
which a man named Lappin lived. An un-
finished frame house (said to be the only frame
house in the parts except one) stood by the
Creek There was only one more building be-
sides these, but it was the finest and best of
all. It was the old church.
" It stood upon a hill ; a gentle hill.
Green, and of n:ild declivity,"
and in the centre of what is now the grave-
yard, a yard then dotted by scarce a tomb-
stone. It was built by the VVesleyan Metho-
dists, and wr.s, with the single exception of
th« Grand River stone chapel, the oldest
church in Westtnn Ontario, or (it is said) in
the whole Province. Long before the year
1800 the settlers used to come a distance of
twenty or thirty miles to listen to itinerant
preachers in this church. It was built with
the labor ot the settlers and without money ;
its clapboard ed sides never saw paint ; its
inside walls never knew plaster or whitewash ;
its humble altar glittered with not an ornament,
no great chandelier shed its light on a fashion-
ably dressed audience at night, nor organ
pealed its thundering accomp.'xniment to a
trained choir ! Its only steeple was the
chimney top that towered over its old fire-
place — for there were ijo foundries or stoves
then. Still its pious congregation looked proud-
ly upon it as a grand edifice. (Years after the
war it was repaired and refitted, however and
was still the finest chapel in this part of the
country It was torn down in 1871.) Two
miles west of Stony Cireek William Davis
kept a tavern, near the bank of the Hig Creek
close by the road It was here that Colonels
Harvey and Murray boarded for a time
during the war. The story is told how an
awkward and verdant youth named Mc-
Nabb (afterwards Sir Allan) was intro-
duced to Murray in this house, and became
so confused in being presented to one whom
he thought so great a man that he kicked
over his chair in rising ; and how he after-
wards said he believed he would have rushed
out of the house had he not been brought to
his senses by a grim smile of assurance from
Murray. Farther up the road was another
house-- still standing on the present site of
Barton' ille —then the only reprf.sentative
house of that village. Farther yet was Mr.
Aikman's pKice, and shortly beyord a stone
habitation, the ruins of which have been
lately pulled down.
As near as I have been able to ascertain,
the ground on which the city of Hamilton
now stands was then owned as follows : Geo.
Hc.nilton, after whom the city was named,
owned 200 acies south of the road — which is
now King street, and east of James street.
Bounding this on the north and extend-
ing from James to Wellington streets was
Hughson"* farm, whose name is itill pre-
served in Hu^hson street. These two farms
were bounded on the west by the property of
William Wedge ; and on the east by the
farms of Ephraim and Col. Robert Land.
Though these were called " farms," nothing
grew on them but a low undergrowth, indica-
tive of marshy ground, called "scrubby oak."
A man named Barns kept tavern in a small
frame house on the present corner of King
and James streets, and was said to own <oo
acres of land somewhere in that part. This
old signless frame tavern may be said to have
been the germ and beginning of the city of
Hamilton. These buildings enumerated,
planted in the midst of an unhewn for-
est, like so many islands in an ocean, were
all that then was of Stony Creek and Hamil-
ton — a name then unknown as a locality.
That part of Hamilton now known as " Dun-
durn Castle" was termed the Heights as well
as the high land on the other side of the canal.
On the grounds around the site of the castle,
and in other places entrenchments were cut
and trees felled for some distance around,
with their branches pointing . outward,
as a sort of (hcval de-frise, traces of which.
may yet be seen in the present cemetery
And behind these entrenchments was Vin-
cent's camp.
It has been said that the Americans reached
Stony Creek late in the afternoon of the 5th
of June, 1813. One of the British dragoons
who had been stationed a distance below the
Creek as a look-out came riding through the
hamlet at full gallop, firing his pistol and
shouting that the enemy were coming. As
he was a notorious liar the alarm was
received doubtfuMy. Another dragoon, John
Brady, rode eastward, upon this,to reconnoitre,
and ere he had advanced half-a-mile suddenly
came upon them. A short distance before
him a deer path ran down to the road from
the mountain, and this he resolved to gain in
the face of the enemy. Putting spurs to his
horse, he rode up, screened by the fire of two
log heaps that were burning by the road, and
firing oft' his piece at them, darted up the deer
path to the niountam. As he wheeled several
muskets answered his own shot, but the
bullets whistled harmlessly by or struck the
intervening trees. Brady climbed the moun-
tain and in less than two hours was at
Vincent's camp at Burlington Heights. The
advance cavalry of the Americans soon
pranced up before Brady's tavern ; when
among other things, they appropriated the
family's bread that had been freshly baked the
same afternoon. The clattering of cavalry
hoofs, the clanking of swords, the heavy rattle
of the artillery, and the long and strange array
of invading soldiers as they filed along the nar-
row road struck the few inhabitants of the ham-
let with wonder and as'onishment. It was
soon whispered about among them that a battle
was to be fought the next day, and as may be
expected the wives and maidens of the vicinity
were in great consternation. Arrived at the
old church the advance encountered Capt.
Williams, whom they drove to the west side
of the Big Creek. Williams and his men
mounted the west bank of the Big Creek and,
firing from thence, killed one man and
mortally wounded another, who was carried
into Davis' tavern The sun was getting low
in the west as the advance and part of the
main body found themselves on a piece of high
and uneven land surrounded by a dense forest
where it was impossible to camp on account
of the impenetrable underwood — unless it
would be in the contracted limits of
the road. Under these circumstances the
men were ordered to fall back on Stony
Creek. Soon after they had gone an Amer-
ican surgeon was sent to attend the wounded
man at Davis'. He seemed in great excite
ment ; swore at the men under his charge for
not hurrying to obey his orders ; ind was sure
they would all be scalped if they did not get
away at once. So the wounded man was
tumbled into one of the beds and they
rattled off in their wagon, bed and all. It
seems he had heard the shouts of Williams'
men and imagined them to be Indians.
(Without discussing the question o^ cruelty
and savagery practiced by the Indians on
both sides during this war it will be proper to
mention that the Americans stood in singular
dread of the British Indians, and were in
constant terror of the scalping knife, to which
feeling was owing partly their defeat in this
conflict, though, be it remembered, not a
solitary Indian was in the battle.) It is
related that some of the men on their way
back to Stony Creek stopped at a well to
drink. One of them said to a comrade, " I
5
think I will take this piece oi land (pointing
to a small clearing) when Canada is con-
quered,'' This m'.n was found the next day
among the slain The poor fellow is still
waiting fur his farm beneath an appletree
that sheds its bloom at each returning 6th of
June over the ground where the soldiers were
buried.
A small tributary stream ef Stony Creek
ran down past Gage's house, distant about
halt a mile at that point from the main stream,
and was enclosed by a low. level, woodless
strip of ground called the "flat," which was
itself walled in on either side by an abrupt
bank about ten feet high. The road .it this
place was not then graded, but pitched imme-
diately down these banks ; and it was <"! the
eastern one that Chandler ordered his ca mon
to be planted, so that they might swee (he
road to the west On each side of the i ')ad,
near the guns, slept the artillerymen. Im-
mediately in the rear of this (Towson's) artil-
lery. Col. Uurns and his cavalry camped. In
a cleared field south of the road towards
Gage's house, a body of nearly 2,000 Amer-
icans pitched their tents, stretching along and
above the bank ; 500 lay in a lane in the flat
west of the stream and to the right front oi
the artillery. Archer's artillery and another
body of men occupied a position towards the
lake. And finally, in advance of the rest a
party of about 50 took possession of the old
church. All the settlers in the vicinity were
taken and held as prisoners lest they should
carry any information to Vincent. Three of
them (whose names I could mention) were
contined in Lappin's log cabin, in uncomfor-
table proximity to the cannon, and a guard
placed over them. Chandler, Winder and
some of the principal officers occupied Gage's
house (while the family were put down cellar)
and used his barn and outhouses as store-
rooms for their baggage. The troops were
ordered to sleep on their arms that night ; the
cannon stood in readiness to sweep the road ;
and full directions were given by Chandler
when and how to form in line 'A battle should
any attack l)e maJe. Thus for ihe first time,
the tents of a Canadian enemy were spread
upon Stony Creek ground, and for the first
time the smoke of an enemy's camp fires
arose on Wentworth air ! The men took
their much-needed supper, and lay down
upon their arms weary and exhausted from
their long, tiresome day's march. The noise
and bustle of the camp gradually died out, as
the men sought their rest, and the darkness
closed in. Ch?.racterislic of June the night
was hot and breezeless, as the day had been
clear and sultry. There was no moon ; the
horizon on all quarters was entombed in a
mountain of dark clouds from which the "heat
lightning " shot out at intervals, and illumined
the tree-tops with its dull flickering glare.
Soon the men were asleep, and the only
sounds to be heard were the sullen tread of
the sentinels, the distant wail of some bird or
animal, and the dying crackle of the camp
fires, which revealed indistinctly the grey
pyramids around them, and the forms of out-
lying soldiers.
Let us now leave the Americans to the
slumber which was fated to be so suddenly
and abruptly broken, and follow the motions
of the British.
Towards evening Vincent had sent out Col.
John Harvey, his deputy-adjutant general, for
the purpose of reconnoitring the enemy. "Tak-
. ing ensigns McKenny and George, two ofiicers
of W. H. Merritt's company, he went forward
with the light companies of the 49th, and met
Williams' company at Big Creek. While
Harvey, George and McKenny were ascend-
ing the east bank of the creek in advance of
the men, they came upon an American with a
British prisoner. The American leveled his
piece to fire on them, when Harvey called out
to the British soldier to seize him, which was
no sooner said than the gun was wrested from
him, and the captor was captive. Harvey
lent his pistol to George Kradshaw, he being
without small arms, and the American, whose
name was Vanderberg, was conducted by him
to the presence of Vincent. The British sold-
ier had strayed from the road in the early part
of the day, returned without knowing that the
enemy had advanced so far, and was seen and
seized. The reconnoitring party now went
cautiously forward to a position from which
they could view the enemy. Here they saw
that the extended line of encampment of the
. enemy was scantily guarded, was scattered
and disconnected, the artillery poorly sup-
ported, and the cavalry placed awkwardly m
the rear the artillery. McKenny and
George both suggested a night sortie upon
them. Harvey saw at once the feasibility of
it and concurred. Harvey has always been
looked to as the first who proposed this
scheme of night attack, but the honor of it
really belongs to these two, McKenny claiu^
ing to have spoken of it first (see W. H. M's
"Journal "). At night they returned and
proposed the night attack to Vincent, who
without much deliberation moved to carry it
into effect. He acceded to it more readily
as he knew full well how very critical his situ-
ation was York was in the grasp of the
enemy and an active and powerful fleet was on
the lake to o|: pose him. And should he de-
lay action till the next day an outnumbering
army would be on his position at the very
time when he had but ninety rounds of am-
munition for each man. W, H. Merritt, who
understood perfectly well the state of affairs,
spoke of it thus: "All my hopes depended
on this bold enterprise, for had we not
attacked them they would have advanced the
next morning, and in all probability we would
have retired without risking an action, as «ur
force was not one-third of theirs. Proctor
and the whole upper country would then have
fallen." It was the result, then, of this night
attack upon the enemy that was to decide the
fate of the western portion of the Province.
An order to move forward startled the
sleeping officers and men from the grass where
on they were reposing, and instantly the camp
was alive with preparations to march. It was
about half-past ten that the last of the brave
seven hundred and four who were to honor
themselves and their posterity in this daring
encounter, disappeared from the waning light
of their campfires down the lonely road east-
ward. Stealthily they took their way beneath
the grand wall of trees that rose on either side
of the road, and in places arched together
overhead, closing them in profound night and
darkness. As the little phalanx wound along
their sinuous path toward the enemy's encamp-
ment not a word was spoken nor a sound of
any kind escaped their ranks. On they stole
down the west bank of Big Creek, then up the
eastern like a train of noiseless ghosts. Just
as they arrived at Davis's the slumbering
echoes of the woods awoke upon their ears
with the sound of a gun, in the very direction
oi the enemy. The whole body halted almost
without the word of cominaml This report
called lor increased caution : some informa-
tion was gleaned from Dnvis ; an>l an order
went around to have the charges drawn from
every gun, lest hy some accident they should
go off, and perhaps defeat the only scheme hy
which they could hope for success. They
now formed into sections, and with the light
companies of the 49lh in the van and Vincent
at the head of the rear column, ihey once
more proceeded. Their movements were now
attended with jjrcater caution, for they were
not certain that the report heard was not an
alarm at their approach. They arrived in
sight of the first sentry at nearly two o'clock
on Sunday morning (6th). Col Harvey, who
waa to conduct the attack, was in front of t)ie
light companies with another man of the 49th,
and observed the sentry reclining against a
tree which leaned partially over the road
about a hundred yards west of the church. I
have never been able to discover for a cer-
tainly whether the countersign was obtained ;
or if it was, how it was done. Lossing asserts
that it "was obtained from a treacherous
dweller near, who by false pretences had pro-
cured and conveyed it to (General Vincent.' In
contradiction to this a "49th man " gives his
printed testimony as follows: "I had been
driven in that afternoon from Stony Creek,
and was well acquainted with the ground.
The cautious silence observed [speaking of
their march down] was most painful : not a
whisper was permitted ; even our footsteps
were not allowed to be Heard. I shall never
forget the agony caused to the senses by the
stealthiness with which we proceeded to the
midnight slaughter. I was not aware that any
other force accompanied us than the Grena-
diers, and when we approached near the
Creek I ventured to whisper to Col Harvey,
• We are close to the enemy's camp, sir ! '
' Hush ! I know it,' was his reply. Shortly
after a sentry challenged ; Dieu, Danford.and
the leading section rushed forward and killed
him with their bayonets ; his bleeding corpse
was cast aside, and we moved on with breath-
less caution. A second challenge 'Who
comes there?' — another rush, and the poor
sentinel is transfixed, but his agonized groans
alarmed a third who stood near the watch-
fire ; he challenged and immediately fired and
fled." Not a moment was now to be lost.
Harvey, whose plans had been perfectly or-
ganized before starting, instantly ordered his
men to deploy into line. He and Col. Fitz-
gibbon took the road straight ahead : Major
Plenderleth swept round to the left, and
Major Ogilvie with a party of the 4gth opened
to the right In the meantime the sentry at
the church door had been approached in the
shade of the trees and killed, and the whole
party— who were lying in all parts of the
church with their heads peacefully pillowed
on their coats and boots — were made prison-
ers. The excitement of the men, wrought by
subdued silence, was now at its greatest in-
tensity. Wiih wild and terrific yells they
burst with fixed bayonets into the flats
upon the astonished Americans. The fren-
zied outburst of voices seemed to fairly
shake the woods; and in the next short
minute the whole flats and the oppo-
site hill was a scene of crazy commotion
and disorder. The five hundred in the lane
flew madly to the hill, leaving their blankets,
knapsacks and some of their arms behind.
The British halted at the deserted camp-fires
of the enemy to load their guns and replace
their flints, which some of them had taken out
for safely. While this was being dime. Col.
Filzgihbon rushed up to the cannon, saw that
the artilleryman were not yet by them, hur-
ried back and ordered the captain of the first
company to charge upon them. The company
was at once on the doubletiuick march in the
face of the guns ; but hardly had they ^one
twenty feet before a man sprang to touch off
one of the cinnons. It hung fire ; the captain
yelled to his men to "break off from the cen-
tre or they would all be killed," but the words
had no more than gone from his lips when the
thundering explosion came, and, not his mer,
but the captain himself and two of his otlicers
lay dead in the raad. Ky this time the Amer-
icans had somewhat recovered from their first
confusion, and while the Driiish were sti'l
loading, the dark hill, for nearly a half-mile
in extent, was suddenly illuminated with a
crashing volley. It was a grand and awful
sight ; none but those who actually witnessed
it can form a true conce])ti<>n of the ghastly
sublimity of Ihe spectacle Following the
dreadful flush anci crash came a silence yet
more impressive, bioken though by the
blinking of ramro<!s and groans of the
wounded and dying. Now an ominous faint
"click click-click ! "rattles along the gloomy
hill, succeeded by another echoing roar of
musketry, and a shock of artillery ; and
again the trees, the tents, and everything
about lives as in a momentary day ; and
again the whizzing bullets are followed by
moans and dying words. But now the flashes
come from the flats also, and from simultan-
eous volleys the firing runs into an incessant
roar, the hill and valley are continuous sheets
of living flame, and the sky is bright with the
glare. The guard at the cabin door near the
foot of the hill had fled with the rest, and now
directly in the face of the fire the four men
who had been confined therein ran excitedly
towards the British, i^'range to tell, they
reached the lines in perfect safety. Then
again the bayonets are fixed and the British
dash forward ; in rushing through they get
confused, but Plenderleth rallies them, and
on towards the cannon they push ; up the
hill they spring, and
" Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turneil in air,
Sabring the gunners there.
Charging an army, while
.All the world wondered.
Three cannons and tumbrels, with thirty
men and one of the generals, were taken in
this fierce charge by Plenderleth. Ogilvie
had charged up towards Gage's, and had cap-
tured the other general while coming out of
the house. At about the same time the two
American generals were lost to their men,
Vincent was lost to the British, and was sup-
posed to be killed or wounded. Under these
circumstances Col. Burns became leader of
the Americans, and Harvey assumed com-
mand of the British. The 49th were on the
hill pressing onward when Burns' cavalry
assailed them, cut through the ranks, and
drove them back down the hill. In changing
so rapidly their positions at this time, the
opposing sides became mixed, and more con-
fusion prevailed. In this state of affairs
nearly fifty of the 49th British regiment were
taken prisoners, and a number of Americans
were also taken by the British. The Ameri-
cans now began to retire, which they did
without pursuit. As it was getting daylight,
Harvey thought it prudent to retire too, as
day would soon discover to the enemy the
insufficiency of his force and probably incite
them to renew a conllici which he was not
al)le to keep up. As soon as ilay b»i;an to
lireak Capt. Merritt was sent down to ascer-
tain, if possible what hail become of the iniss-
in|{ general. He airived at the scene of the
midnight carnage, and was viewing over the-
ground not thinking of the enemy, wh'in he
was accosted by an American sentinel under
Gage's house with " Who goes there ?" At
this unexpected challenge ne was about to
surrender, as both his pistols were in the
holsters, when he bethought himself of a
ruse, and turning to the sentinel, and riding
towards him in(|uired, " Who pl.-.ced you
there?" Supposing him to be one of their
own ofr.cers the sentinel returned that he was
put their by his captain who had just gone
into the house with a I'arty of men. The
captain then asked him if he had found the
British general yet, at the same time pulling
out his |)istol. At the sight of the wapon
leveled at him, the sentinel dropped his gun
and gave himself up. Just then a man, with-
out any yun, ran down the hill. Capt. Mer-
ritt called him and he obeyed the summons.
Thus securing the two prisoners unobserved
by the party of men in the house, he took
them off to the Heights, but found no trace of
Vincent, A large body of the enemy reap-
peared on the battle field between seven and
eight o'clock, and proceeded to destroy the
previsions, carriages, spare arms, blankets,
etc., which they could not take, and then re-
treated, leaving the'r own dead to be buried
by the British. As they passed from the
scene of their discomfiture, their band struck
up the then popular air, " In My Cott-ige near
the Wood," and to this lively tune the disor-
dered army left the hamlet of Stony Creek
forever.
They did not halt till they reached the 40-
mile Creek, where they camped over night.
But Sir James Yeo having sailed from
Kingston on the 3rd, with his squadron
for the purpose of annoying the enemy
at the head of the Lake, appeared otT this
creek at daylight of the 7th. Being be-
calmed, it was impossible to get within
range with the large vessels but the schooners
Beresford and Sidney Smith were tugged
up and commenced lire. This added 10 a
panic caused by some Indians appearing on
the brow of the mountain, and tiring into
the camp, caused the Americans (now rein-
forced by Generals Lewis and Boyd) to break
camp and retreat to Fort George, leaving
behind 5C0 tents, 100 stand of arms, 140 bar-
rels of flour, and about 70 wounded men, who
were duly taken care of. But the Americans
met a severer loss in the destruction and
capture of all the batteaux that were in co-
operation with the land forces. Twelve of
them were iaken with all their contents by the
Beresford, and the residue of five driven on
shore, where their crews deserted them, and
joined the flying army.
When Capt. Merritt returned to camp with-
out the General, George Bradshaw and John
Brant (a half-brother to the celebrated Joseph
Brant) started again in search. They met
him emerging from a side path, arrayed in a
borrowed hat and on a borrowed horse. He
had lost himself, he said, in the woods while
the battle was going on ; and in the general
excitement lost hat, sword, and horse. On
his return to camp he was greeted with loud
cheers from his men, who had almost given
him up as killed or taken prisoner.
!ll
The following is the statement given in an
American account (Lossing's) as the return of
killi: i and wounded at Stony Creek ; the
British had 23 killed, 100 wounded, and 5
missing. The Americans had 17 killed ; 3:
wounded, and 99 missing.
Somewhat at variance with this is Vincent'i
oflicial report which says : " The action ter-
minated before daylight, when three guns and
one brass howitzer, with three tumbrels, two
Brigadier-Gener:!ls, Chandler and Winder,
first and second in command, and upwards of
100 officers and privates remained in our
hands. * * ' * It would be an act of
injustice were I to omit assuring your Excel-
lency, that gallantry and discipline were never
more conspicuous than during our late short
action ; and I feel the greatest satisfaction in
assuring you that every officer and individual
seemed anxious to rival each other in his
efforts to support the honor of His Majesty's
arms, and to maintain the high character of
British troops. * ' General return of
killea, wounded, and missing : 3 lieutenant,
3 sergeants, 19 rank and file, killed ; 2 majors,
5 captains, 2 lieutenants, I ensign, I adjutant,
I fort-major, 9 sergeants, 2 drummers, and
113 rank and file, wounded ; 3 sergeants, arid
52 rank and file, missing." A veteran, John
Lee, who assisted in burying the dead, ami
cotintcd thcin hiimdf, disagrees with both,
and affirms that there were buried that day
sixty one men of both sides.
This loss in a half-hour's fight made a large
gulf in 704 men. The severe loss on the
British si.le is easily accounted for in the fact
that they were exposed to the light of the
camp fires wtiere they suflered fearfully before
they were prepared to return the fire. From
the position of the dead and wounded next
morning it was known that they lost as much
from those two first volleys as in all the rest
of the fi^ht. Most of the Americans were
wounded with bayonets .^11 the honor of
this sharp and effectual repulse of an enemy
outnumljering them four to one, is due to the
decision, energy and judgment of Col. Har-
vey as the leader of a brave, active and
faithful band of men.
Many came the next day to witness the
scene of the tngagement. Men, horses, guns,
swords and baggage were strewn in every
part of the ground The old church was shr.t-
tered and riddled with balls in every part and
wore its marks of ill-usage down to the year
1820 The bodies of the dead were conveyed
on an old wood sleigh to their graves, the set-
lers of the neighborhood assisting in the
mournful task. Part of them were buried
where some of them had slept, but th"? night
before— on a projecting point of the hill east
of the creek and a little dist.ince north of the
present road. The others — without distinction
of country — slumber in the graveyard close to
the spot whereon the old church stood. No
stone is yet erected to perpetuate their mem-
ory or designate their sleeping place ; but re-
buking the descendants, two apple-trees stand
patient sentinels over them, ard ?.s each sixth
of June rolls round, shake the snowy laurels
from their own heads to j>erfume and hallow
their anniversary day ! As th^ir lives were
arduous and warlike, so let their slumbers be
light and peaceful — both friends and foes —
and when they wake to the notes of the last,
final bugle call, may they find the honored
place in Paradise given to those who spend
their life and blood in the good and noble
cause of Country!
RESOLUTIONS
ADOPTED AT A PIC-NIC GATHERING HELD ON THE
BATTLE FIELD,
Resolved, That we regard with thankfulness the contentment, comfort and
self-reliance of the people of this Dominion, which the freedom of our institu-
tions and the bravery of our ancestors under Divine Providence have conferred
upon us, anu we gratefully acknowledge the moral and material support which
in the past our Mother Country has ever willingly granted and secured to us in
a great measure as the result of the glorious victory, the anniversary of which we
now celebrate.
Resolved, That the Dominion Government be respectfully recjuested to
grant a reasonable sum of money in aid of the erection of suitable monuments
on the battle ground of Stony Creek and on Burlington Heights, in commemo-
ration of the heroic bravery and self-sacrifice of the defenders of our country,
and in grateful appreciation of the important results which the victory attending
that battle has secured to us.
Resolved, That this meeting urge the importance of forming Pioneer and
Historical societies throughout the Dominion, as a valuable and influential
agency for the collection and preservation of the necessary materials for reliable
histories of our country, and as an indication of the loyalty of the Canadian
people to their country and their attachment to British laws and institutions.
Resolved, That the thanks of the Wentworth Pioneer and Historical So-
ciety be conveyed to Mr. William A. Nash for his kind permission to use his
beautiful grounds and residence on this occasion.
The Y/entworth'Picn2er and Historical Society.
ORGANIZED JANUARY 1889.
Officers for 1889.— Geo. H. Mills, Pres. ; Hon. Arch. McKellar, 1st
Vice-Pres. ; J. E. O'Reilly, and Vice-Pres. ; John H. Land, Sec. and Treas.
Executive Council.— F. M. Carpenter, Esq., M. P. ; Lyman Moore,
Esq. ; H. C. Baker, Esq. ; Major Henry McLaren ; F. W. Fearman, Esq. ;
John Muir, Judge C.C ; J. W. Jones, Esq. ; T. C. Mewburn, Esq. ; Richard
Bull, Esq. ; T, H.Stinson, Esq.; John A. Barr, Esq.