January 1813 Stories


First Edition Published October 22, 2015
Second Edition Published September 13, 2016
Third Edition Published October 4, 2018
Copyright by Fred Blair

January 1, 1813

On the Niagara Frontier

            Private Charles Cook, of the 2nd Lincoln Militia, who had been shot through the thigh in 1812 at Fort Erie, was reported recovering slowly.[1]

On the St. Lawrence

            Lieutenant John Cameron was stationed at Glengarry House with a flank company of the 1st Glengarry Militia in January and February.  As they were exposed to the enemy across the St. Lawrence River, Lieutenant Colonel Neil McLean of the Stormont Militia ordered John to secure the doors and windows of the stone house.  John had the doors and windows blocked with fourteen-inch timbers with a port-hole in each door and window.  Five hundred feet of planks were used to brace the timbers so that they could not be beaten inward by the Americans.  A number of other regiments were stationed in the house throughout the war.
            John had paid for the construction with his own money and was unable to recover his expenses until after the war.[2]

January 2, 1813

In Kingston

            The Kingston Gazette reported that the Glengarry Light Infantry Fencibles offered sharpshooters a uniform and four guineas upon enlisting.[3]

January 14, 1813

In York

            Major General Isaac Brock’s property, including his silver, furniture, livestock, wine, and books, was to be sold by auction in York.[4]

January 18, 1813

In Michigan

The Battle of the River Raisin or Frenchtown

            The Battle of the River Raisin was fought in Michigan from the 18th to the 22nd.  The Americans forced the British to retreat in the first engagement but the British ambushed the Americans on the 22nd.[5]

            On this day, Major Ebenezer Reynolds of the Essex Militia was ordered to take a detachment from Amherstburg to Frenchtown, a distance of about eighteen miles.  He commanded about fifty men with a three-pounder and two hundred indigenous warriors mostly of the Pottawattomi Tribe.  They encountered an American advanced guard of nearly eight hundred men, part of General James Winchester’s division.  After a brief encounter the British detachment was forced to fall back about one mile where they were again forced to retreat further.  One militia man and three warriors were killed.  An American report was sent to General Winchester at Fort Meigs and he led most of his army to join his advanced guard to engage the British again.[6]
           
January 19, 1813

            Upon receiving news of the encounter on the River Raisin the night before, Colonel Procter in Amherstburg commanded a British force across the Detroit River to come to the aid of Major Reynold’s detachment.  This force included five hundred regulars and militia, eight hundred indigenous warriors under Chief Roundhead, and three three-pounders.  Among the regulars were idle boat crews and the Newfoundland Fencibles.  John Richardson, a volunteer in the 41st Regiment, accompanied these men.  The Detroit River at the point of crossing was frozen over and about four miles in width.[7]

January 21, 1813

            As night fell, Colonel Procter’s force encamped about five miles away from the Americans.  The men had only their great coats and camp fires to keep them warm.[8]

January 22, 1813

            Colonel Procter’s army was on the advance two hours before dawn and encountered the American’s before sun rise.  As there were no American pickets, the British had half of their men in position to attack before they were discovered.  Rather than ordering a bayonet charge before the Americans were roused from their beds, Procter commanded the three-pounders to open fire instead.  The Americans quickly took up positions and concealed behind breastworks had an advantage over the British who had to advance in the open.
            The militia and warriors broke the American right flank and about four hundred Americans retreated to the block-houses that had been erected upon their arrival.  Their right and part of the center were pursued for nearly two miles along the road of their retreat.  Chief Roundhead of the Wyandot captured General Winchester and his son.  The general, after having appraised the situation, ordered his men in the block-house to surrender to the British.  Only about one hundred and fifty Americans were estimated to have made it back to Fort Meigs while the remainder were killed or captured.
            William Caldwell of Amherstburg had been attached to the indigenous warriors.  During the battle he had rescued a fleeing American officer who had ran across the ice while being pursued by a warrior welding a tomahawk.  While being escorted to the captured Americans the officer drew a knife and cut William across his throat from ear to ear.  Fortunately, the wound was not deep and William was able to grab the officer’s arm, withdraw his own dagger, and kill him.
            William was probably Captain William Caldwell Jr. of the 1st Essex Militia.
            John Richardson reported that twenty-four British rank and file had been killed and eleven officers and one hundred and fifty-eight rank file had been wounded.  Lieutenant Felix Troughton wrote a more detailed report on the wounded and dead on January 25th.   
            Ensign Kerr of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment had been shot through the lungs and died within a few days.  John’s fourteen-year old brother, Midshipman Robert Richardson, was struck by a ball while applying a match to one of the three-pounders.  His right leg had been shattered and he was six months recovering, although the wound would eventually cause his death.  John’s father was in the rear of the British force, employed as a surgeon.
            [9]John also commented on the state of the American prisoners.  They were unclean and their clothing was worn and ragged.  They were wearing their summer cotton gear.  Few had great coats or wool garments suitable for winter service.  Their hair was long and matted, their blankets dirty, and they had long axes and knives in their belts.  The officers were similarly dressed but carried swords, short rifles, and daggers.

            Private Jean Baptiste St. Louis dit Villair of the 2nd Essex Militia had his 3-point blanket taken by the British 41st Regiment to cover a wounded soldier.[10]

            Baptiste Reaume of Amherstburg Township was employed for three days recovering the wounded and dead with his horse and sleigh.[11]

            John Troyer of Sandwich Township claimed for the medical care of an American prisoner taken at the River Raisin.  His charges were for salts, a phial of castor oil, a phial of spirits of turpentine, a pair of scissors, a syringe, and for performing three bleedings.[12]

January 25, 1813

            Lieutenant Felix Troughton wrote a report to Major General Sheaffe on the casualties and wounded from the battle on the 22nd.  These included members of the Royal Artillery, 10th Royal Veteran Battalion, the 41st Foot, the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, the Marine Department, the 1st and 2nd Essex Militia, and Staff.
            The lieutenant had himself been wounded as a member of the Royal Artillery.
            The 1st Essex had two privates killed and Captain William Mills and Lieutenants William McCormick and James Gordon, two sergeants, and seven privates wounded.  The 2nd Essex suffered three privates killed and Ensign Claude Garvin and three privates wounded.[13]  Claude Garvin was also known as Claude Gouin.

January 31, 1813



In Ancaster Township

            On the first day of the New Year, Samuel Green and his wife visited Benjamin Smith.  In his diary, Benjamin wrote that he sorted corn the following day and hauled in two loads from his fields.  As it snowed on Sunday, he stayed home and read his Book.  In the following weeks, wheat was thrashed and cleaned, wood and straw were hauled in, and the stables were cleaned with help from the boys.  On the last Sunday of the month, Benjamin went to a meeting with Jack.[14]

Sources:


[1] Lt. Col. Thomas Clark, From letters written during the War of 1812-14, men wounded or died since June 26, 1812, www.sandycline.com/history/Lincmilitia.html, accessed 2011.
[2] Collections Canada, War of 1812, Board of Claims and Losses, Microfilm t-1139, page 771.
[3] The Fife and Drum, The Newsletter of The Friends of Fort York and Garrison Common, Volume 16, Number 5, December, 2012, page 7.
[4] The Fife and Drum, The Newsletter of The Friends of Fort York and Garrison Common, Volume 16, Number 5, December, 2012, page 7.
[5] Battle of the River Raisin, accessed June 30, 2014 at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Raisin_National_Battlefield_Park
[6] Major John Richardson, Richardson’s War of 1812, edited by Alexander Casselman, Coles Publishing Company, Toronto, 1974, pages 132-133.
[7] Major John Richardson, Richardson’s War of 1812, edited by Alexander Casselman, Coles Publishing Company, Toronto, 1974, pages 133-134.
[8] Major John Richardson, Richardson’s War of 1812, edited by Alexander Casselman, Coles Publishing Company, Toronto, 1974, page 134.
[9] Major John Richardson, Richardson’s War of 1812, edited by Alexander Casselman, Coles Publishing Company, Toronto, 1974, pages 134-140
[10] Collections Canada, War of 1812, Board of Claims and Losses, Microfilm t-1136, pages 1060.
[11] Collections Canada, War of 1812, Board of Claims and Losses, Microfilm t-1126, pages 857-858.
[12] Collections Canada, War of 1812, Board of Claims and Losses, Microfilm t-1126, pages 1030-1032.
[13] Major John Richardson, Richardson’s War of 1812, edited by Alexander Casselman, Coles Publishing Company, Toronto, 1974, pages 144-145.
[14] Benjamin Smith’s Diary, Benjamin Smith Fonds F582, Ontario Archives, Toronto, Ontario.


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