First Edition Published
January 21, 2016
Second Edition
Published January 16, 2017
Third
Edition Published June 10, 2019
New
Stories and changes are in blue text.
Copyright
by Fred Blair
September 1,
1813
In Glengarry
County
Private Alexander McPherson of
the 1st Glengarry Militia had an accident and received a pension
after the war because of the resulting disability.[1]
September 2,
1813
In York
The Loyal and Patriotic Society paid
William Harley 3 pounds and 15 shillings Halifax currency for constructing 8
coffins for soldiers who had died in the hospital.[2]
September 3,
1813
The Loyal and Patriotic Society
reviewed the petition of Edward Knight of Woodhouse. He and his wife were both 70 years old and
had lost the support of their son and grandson because they had both been taken
prisoner by the Americans. His petition
was rejected because it had not been “framed according to the rules
established” by the board and was to be re-submitted.[3]
September 4,
1813
On the Niagara
Frontier
Thomas G. Ridout wrote from the Four
Mile Creek where he had sought lodging with Mr. Thompson. The elderly man told Thomas that his family
occupied the whole of his house but that the officers could stay in an old
house nearby which had been abandoned.
The men cleared the building of rubbish and made straw beds on the
floor. At night, they stole “peas,
apples, onions, corn, carrots,” and other food from the farmer’s gardens. A cow was occasionally milked while the
farmer slept. A turkey was being fed in
the hope of luring it close enough to capture.
Fence rails were taken for fire wood.
They had an iron pot as a teapot, roaster, and boiler. Two window shutters upon three barrels served
as a table.[4]
Looters were punished if they were
discovered but plundering local supplies was common throughout Upper
Canada. Fence rails were stolen for
firewood throughout the province. The
value of war loss claims after the war was about fifty times the annual
provincial revenue. Most claims were not
paid until 1824 or later.[5]
September 5,
1813
In Kingston and York
Still
trying to resolve currency problems, the Kingston Association met at Walker’s
Hotel in Kingston. Two prominent
merchants, Whitney and Markland wished to join the association. The members of the association wanted the two
merchants to first redeem the currency that they had each issued. Neither merchant believed that they could
afford to take back all they had printed in a short period of time.
By controlling the
supply of small change, the association member’s businesses were thriving.
Quetton St. George, a
member of the York Association, had been offering customers a discount if they
used that association’s currency. This
tended to lower the value of the Lower Canada army bills.[6]
By the end of the war,
St. George was the principal supplier for the York Garrison. His total sales were about 27 000
pounds. William Allan and Alexander
Wood, his main competitors sold less than half of what he did.[7]
September 7,
1813
In the Kingston Gazette, Sir George
Prevost’s proclamation declared that when paroles were granted by the Americans
to Upper Canadians who were not bearing arms when captured were not valid. Unarmed Upper Canadians should not have been
imprisoned and were not entitled to a parole.
Most of the paroles granted by the Americans in April and May were
therefore not valid.
Men who were captured while under
arms and who had been granted a parole against bearing arms were still eligible
for militia duties in which they were not armed. Public works in the Home District about the
Town of York had been neglected because militiamen thought they did not have to
report for duty when they were ordered to muster.[8]
In Elizabethtown
A Court of Oyer and Terminer, etc.,
was held in Elizabethtown in the Johnstown District by Justice William
Campbell. Beriah Carpenter was found
guilty of perjury and was sentenced to be confined for three calendar months,
to pay a find of fifty pounds, and to remain in prison until the fine was paid.
Charles Jones was found guilty of
assault and was sentenced to pay a fine of five pounds.
Edward McSweeney was found guilty of
murder and sentenced to be hanged by the neck until dead on October 18th. His body was then to be dissected and
anatomized.
Edward became a sergeant in the 1st
Leeds Militia in 1812. On October 12,
1812, Edward confronted Andrew Fuller, a member of the same regiment, who was
removing several items from the Elizabethtown garrison without authorization. During the confrontation, Edward fired his
musket and killed Andrew. As the case
did not come to trial until about eleven months later, Edward had time to
compose a number of petitions for mercy while in jail. His execution was put on hold while a pardon
was considered. The pardon was prepared
on June 29, 1814 but was not granted until October 30th.[9]
On the Niagara
Frontier
Daniel Forbes of Bertie Township,
Christian Risely, William Powell, and John Putman signed paroles and were freed
from prison by the Americans.[10]
September
10, 1813
The Battle
of Lake Erie
The British squadron of eight
vessels under the command of Captain Barclay was outgunned and outmanned by the
American squadron of nine superior vessels.
The engagement took place near Amherstburg.
Jonathan Nelson was captured, as a Master of the Royal
Navy, with his son Robert, who was a midshipman serving in the Provincial
Navy. They were held in Frankfort,
Kentucky. Robert was paroled on May 23,
1814 and Jonathan was released on November 17, 1814.[11]
Jonathan’s family suffered war losses on September 15th
and again in October while he was in prison.
Private Peter Taylor of the Oxford
Militia was killed in action on the lake and left a widow, Mary Taylor.[12]
Upper
Canadian Wounded
Seaman
George Hutchison, Provincial Marine
Seaman
Colman Row, Provincial Marine[13]
On the Niagara
Frontier
Major General De Rottenburg wrote
from the British Headquarters at the Four Mile Creek that barracks were to be
erected at Burlington but he could not send more troops there as he had lost
too many to desertion and sickness. He
had authorized one 150 militia men to be called out to assist with the
construction and had authorized the commander at York to do the same
there. Any men who were unlawfully
paroled and rejected this call were to be sent to the United States.[14]
Twelve men from Captain Thomas
Merrigold’s Company of the 2nd York Militia became engaged in
“public works” from September 22nd to October 24th. This militia regiment was often stationed at
Burlington Heights where the barracks would have been constructed.[15]
Twenty-one men from Captain William
Bates’ Company of the 2nd York Militia were also mustered in mid
September.[16]
September
13, 1813
At Lake Huron
The
British schooner Nancy was heading to Michilimackinac when the captained
stopped at the head of the St. Clair River to enquire about American ships in that
area. Chief “Black Bird” told him that
General Proctor had gone to Amherstburg on the first because he had had a
report that five American ships had been seen there.
Black Bird was either
Jean Baptiste Assiginack, known as the Starling, or his brother Makadebinesi,
who was known as Black Hawk.[17]
In Sandwich
A Court of Oyer and Terminer and
General Gaol Delivery was held at Sandwich in the Western District by Justice
William Dummer Powell. James Moody was
found guilty of “killing cattle with the intent to steal the carcass” and was
sentenced to be hanged.
James was the first person in the
province to be convicted of this new law passed in Britain. His two accomplices, who were soldiers and
could not be tried in a civil court, were not punished. Lieutenant Governor Gordon Drummond granted
Moody a full pardon.
Thomas Cummins was also sentenced to
be hanged.[18]
In York
As the Americans had
had control of Lake Ontario, Upper Canadian shipping was reduced because of the
fear of shipments being captured.
Another result was probably the shortage of coin experienced in the Town
of York. Daniel Tier and other merchants
formed the York Association in order to issue bills that could be used to make
change.
Daniel Tier owned the
Red Lion Hotel at the corner of Yonge and Bloor Streets. This was the starting point for the stage
coaches on Yonge Street.[19]
September
15, 1813
In Amherstburg
Corporal John Thomson of the 41st
Regiment was commanded by Major General Henry Proctor to take a fatigue party and
burn nearly one hundred tons of hay between September 15th and 22nd
in Amherstburg, in order to prevent the Americans from using it. On Jonathan Nelson’s farm, they destroyed 780
cocks of hay in the meadow and thirty-five tons in the barn. Jonathan later reported that he was the only
proprietor of hay in the county and had declined offers to sell his hay in
order to hold it at the request of the commissariat for military use.
Although advanced in years, Jonathan
had commanded a transport on Lake Erie and was appointed sailing master of
Commodore Barclay’s ship, the Detroit, where he was taken prisoner in an
engagement that same month.
In October, while Jonathan was in
prison, the Americans plundered his farm of
120 bushels
of corn at 30 pounds
160
bushels of potatoes at 20 pounds
seven
tons of wild hay at 12 pounds & 5 shillings
a horse
with a saddle and bridle at 18 pounds & 15 shillings
three
sheep at 2 pounds & 5 shillings
two
yearling calves at 4 pounds
250
bushels of apples at 31 pounds & 5 shillings
hemp
1000
feet of board at 6 pounds & 5 shillings
two
half-round cherry tree tables at 5 pounds
a tea
tray at 15 shillings
four
fusils at 4 pounds
and a
rifle at 3 pounds [20]
At Burlington Heights
While Proctor ordered supplies be burnt or destroyed,
the commissariat at Burlington Heights reported that they had only enough
rations for twenty days. In about
thirty-days time Proctor would arrive there with the remnants of his army and
over 3000 Indians and their families.
Every month there, they alone would consume about 150 tons of flour and almost
1000 head of cattle. It was thought
there were only about 300 head of cattle in the area. There was also a shortage of forage for draft
animals and many were trying to sell theirs by December, as they could not feed
them.[21]
John White, a ship carpenter from Quebec, was employed
in Amherstburg. General Proctor ordered
him to deliver boats containing stores to Richardson’s house on the
Thames. After unloading he staved in the
boats and proceeded to Burlington. He
was overtaken by the Americans, wounded, robbed of all his money, and left for
dead.[22]
September
19, 1813
Private Joseph Long of
the Incorporated Militia was wounded by the accidental discharge of a musket
and received a pension after the war for the resulting disability.[23]
[24]
September
20, 1813
On the Thames
Benjamin Jones of the River Thames was
employed at 15 shillings per day for two days with his team conveying the sick
and baggage of the 41st Regiment.[25]
At Wolf Island
Truman Bennitt of Wolf Island, just
south of Kingston and on the St. Lawrence River, reported that he saw a soldier
wearing a redcoat and the accoutrements of a British regiment discharge a gun
at one of his father’s oxen and kill it.
The soldier was with two others who Truman later learned were deserters
from De Watteville’s Regiment. Truman
was standing about 150 yards away when the ox was shot. The soldiers took him prisoner and held from
about 8:00 in the morning until sundown.
On the 21st, Truman identified two of the deserters who had been
captured, one alive and the other dead.
He heard that the third deserter had escaped.
What became of the ox?
The family first thought to sell the dead ox to the British commissariat
but they did not want it. By the time they
were ready to butcher it themselves the meat had spoiled and the ox had to be
buried.[26]
September
21, 1813
American
Raid on Gananoque
Captain Benjamin Forsyth and about
200 American regulars and militia raided Gananoque, as the village was important
to the British transportation of supplies up and down the St. Lawrence
River. The village was garrisoned by the
2nd Leeds Militia under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Joel Stone. Having only just over forty men to defend the
village, he was forced to order a retreat.
The guards at the government storehouse were forced to give up the
building. The Americans seized the
supplies that they could carry and burned the rest.[27]
As the Americans first landed in the
village, Lieutenant John McNeil was ordered to carry the news to Kingston. His wife, Eurany, reported that he carried
out the journey with such zeal that he ruined his horse. The horse died five weeks later. John was killed by a horse kick the following
year.[28]
In Leeds County
Sometime prior to his death, John
built a new barn on his property on Lot 11, Concession 2, Lansdowne
Township. Family history recorded that
soldiers in the area helped with the construction. When it was torn down in the 1980’s it was
purported to be the oldest barn in the province.
Photo of John McNeil’s
barn courtesy of Alan Lindsay
John and Erany’s son, John Jr.,
later married Abigail Kyes who was about eleven years old in 1813. She reported that her brothers and herself
spent whole days in the grain fields in the summer driving off blackbirds and
pigeons that wanted to eat the crops.
When they needed grain ground, her father would put her on the back of
the horse with a bag of grain in front of her and she would ride eight miles to
the mill at Escott to have it ground.
Six miles of the journey were through the woods. They lacked many store-bought goods like
carpets, curtains, stoves, dishware, and some cutlery. They had to rely on maple sugar for a
sweetener. Soldiers travelling on the
roads during the war would stay where ever they could find billets and often
took all the provisions they could find.
In Waterloo County
Captain John Chisholm of the 2nd
York Militia was in Waterloo Township impressing wagons, horses, and men to aid
in General Proctor’s retreat from the west.[29]
On the Niagara
Frontier
Thomas G. Ridout wrote from
Headquarters at the Four Mile Creek, on the Niagara Frontier, that the militia
had been called out to build barracks at Lundy’s Lane, Queenston, Chippawa, and
Burlington Heights. He believed that the
winter headquarters would be at the latter place. Nichol was to bring the Long Point militia
down.[30]
September
22, 1813
Adjutant
John McIntyre of the 5th Lincoln Militia received two shillings per
day for the keep of his horse over the last 224 days.[31]
September
24, 1813
In York County
The Quarterly Return for the 1st
York Militia recorded the effective strength of the regiment at 451 men in 11
companies. An additional 109 men were
exempted from service. A number of the
officers were still on parole to the Americans from April, 1813 when the Town
of York was captured. One captain had
resigned and three officers were recommended for promotion to that rank.[32]
September
25, 1813
On the Niagara
Frontier
John Lawrence of Niagara Township
was impressed by Frederick Starr Jarvis, the British Wagon Master, to take a load
of sick men from Servos’ barn to the Twelve Mile Creek, a one-day trip. He claimed a pound for his services.[33]
He was impressed again on October
14, 1813 and at times pastured live stock for the British.
During the month, Adjutant David
Thompson, of the 2nd Lincoln Militia, had been ordered to impress a
scow belonging to John Metler of Crowland Township in the Niagara
District. When the British began to
retreat from the district, the scow was sent over the falls to prevent the
Americans from using it.[34]
September
26, 1813
At Sandwich
Lieutenant Colonel James Baby had
retreated with the British from Sandwich in July of 1812 when Brigadier General
Hull had invaded. The British were
forced to retreat again on this date.
James Baby owned two grist mills on the main fork of
the River Rouge where the Potawatomy Indians had encamped in the spring and
summer. On the night of the retreat the
Indians set fire to the larger of the two grist mills in order to prevent the
Americans making use of it.[35]
September
28, 1813
In Middlesex County
In
Delaware, Moses Brigham signed a receipt for 4 boxes of property belonging to
General Proctor that were delivered by Lewis Arnold. Lewis reported that it had taken him 7 days
with a wagon and 4 horses to make the journey.
He claimed 7 pounds 15 shillings for the journey. He was living in the Thames River area.[36]
At Burlington Heights
Major General De Rottenburg reported
that militia men were employed at Burlington Heights bringing up the stores and
ordnance landed there by boat.[37]
September
30, 1813
Sometime during the month, Captain
John Smith of Barton Township had a raft of 5250 pieces of timber anchored at
outlet of Burlington Bay. The raft had
been there for about two weeks waiting for the westerly winds to die down so
that it could be taken across the lake.
The men guarding the raft and some locals believed it had been cut loose
by the 104th British Regiment.[38]
Captain Smith served in the 5th
Lincoln Militia. Was he the father of
Private Benjamin Smith of Ancaster Township who was the son of John and Anna
Smith?
In Ancaster Township
The ink in Benjamin Smith’s diary
was faded again and it was difficult to read what they had done on the farm in Ancaster
Township in this month and the beginning of October. They began to sow wheat and Benjamin made at
least one trip to Burlington Heights.[39]
Benjamin served from September 6th to 11th in a detachment
of thirteen men from the 5th Lincoln Militia under Lieutenant Michael Showers.[40]
Near the Town of York
Ely Playter wrote in his diary that
the American fleet had been seen near the Town of York. Public stores were quickly moved and he was
placed in charge of three boats of flour to take up the Don River, out of
harm’s way. He stopped near a bridge and
spent the night there. In the morning,
he received news that the American’s had passed by York and that he was to
return with the boats.[41]
During the month, Ely raked up and
drew in his buckwheat, had a sheep killed by a neighbour’s dog, had his plough
sharpened and did some ploughing, and ordered a pair of shoes from Mr. Chesney.[42]
Who was Mr. Chesney?
Upper Canadian Service Deaths
Captain William Buchanan, 1st
Essex, illness, September 19, 1813
Widow Elizabeth Buchanan
Private Samuel Pew, 2nd
Lincoln, illness, September 10, 1813
Widow Mary Pew
Sources:
[1] Pension Poster –
Casualties, January 1, 1817, Nelles Family Fonds, Ref. Code F 542,
box
MU 2192, Ontario Archives, Toronto.
[2] The Report of the Loyal and Patriotic Society of Upper
Canada, with an appendix and a list of subscribers and benefactors, William
Gray, Montreal, 1817, pages 74, accessed on Dec. 14, 2018 at https://dr.library.brocku.ca/handle/10464/4754.
[4] Ernest Alexander
Cruikshank, Documentary History of the Campaign upon the Niagara Frontier in
1813, Part III, August to October, Vol. 7, Lundy’s Lane Historical Society,
printed at the Tribune Office, Welland, 1905, page 99, accessed at www.ourroots.ca, March 24, 2014.
[5] George Sheppard, Plunder, Profit, and
Paroles: A Social History of the War of
1812 in Upper Canada, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1994, page 101.
[6] George Sheppard, Plunder, Profit, and
Paroles: A Social History of the War of
1812 in Upper Canada, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1994, pages 141-142.
[7] George Sheppard, Plunder, Profit, and
Paroles: A Social History of the War of
1812 in Upper Canada, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1994, page 145.
[8] George Sheppard, Plunder, Profit, and
Paroles: A Social History of the War of
1812 in Upper Canada, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1994, pages 88-89.
[9] Linda Corupe, U.E.,
Upper Canada Justice, Early Assize Court Records of Ontario, Vol. 2, 1810-1818,
transcribed and indexed 2008, pages 87-91 & 390.
[10] Collections
Canada, War of 1812, Board of Claims and Losses, Microfilm t-1126, pages 516.
[11] List of British
Prisoners to the United States Captured in the War of 1812, http://www.1812privateers.org/Great%20Britain/ABC.pdf, accessed Nov. 26,
2015.
[13] Pension Poster –
Casualties, January 1, 1817, Nelles Family Fonds, Ref. Code F 542,
box
MU 2192, Ontario Archives, Toronto.
[14] Ernest Alexander
Cruikshank, Documentary History of the Campaign upon the Niagara Frontier in
1813, Part III, August to October, Vol. 7, Lundy’s Lane Historical Society,
printed at the Tribune Office, Welland, 1905, pages 110-111, accessed at www.ourroots.ca, March 24, 2014.
[15] Collections Canada, War of 1812: Upper Canada Returns, Nominal Rolls and
Paylists, Microfilm t-10384, pages 13 & 129.
[16] Collections Canada, War of 1812: Upper Canada Returns, Nominal Rolls and
Paylists, Microfilm t-10384, pages 16-17 & 141-142.
[17] Alan Corbiere, Jean
Baptiste Assiginack/The Starling (aka Blackbird): Anishnaabeg in the War of 1812, accessed Feb.
7, 2017, at https://earlycanadianhistory.ca/2017/02/06/jean-baptiste-assiginack-the-starling-aka-blackbird-anishnaabeg-in-the-war-of-1812/
[18] Linda Corupe, U.E.,
Upper Canada Justice, Early Assize Court Records of Ontario, Vol. 2, 1810-1818,
transcribed and indexed 2008, pages 92-95 & 390.
[19] Dorothy Duncan, Hoping
for the Best, Preparing for the Worst, Dundurn, Toronto, 2012, page 102.
[20] Collections Canada,
War of 1812, Board of Claims and Losses, Microfilm t-1134, pages 713-749.
[21] George Sheppard, Plunder, Profit, and
Paroles: A Social History of the War of
1812 in Upper Canada, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1994, pages 113-114.
[22] The Report of the Loyal and Patriotic
Society of Upper Canada, with an appendix and a list of subscribers and
benefactors, William Gray, Montreal, 1817, page 112, accessed on Dec. 14, 2018
at https://dr.library.brocku.ca/handle/10464/4754
[23] Pension Poster –
Casualties, January 1, 1817, Nelles Family Fonds, Ref. Code F 542,
box
MU 2192, Ontario Archives, Toronto.
[24] Richard Feltoe,
Redcoated Ploughboys: The Volunteer
Battalion of Incorporated Militia of Upper Canada, 1813-1815, Dundurn Press,
2012, page 396.
[25] Collections Canada,
War of 1812, Board of Claims and Losses, Microfilm t-1136, pages 101-109.
[26] Collections Canada,
War of 1812, Board of Claims and Losses, Microfilm t-1139, page 572.
[28] Collections Canada,
War of 1812, Board of Claims and Losses, Microfilm t-1129, pages 1013-1017.
[29] Harold S. Bender, New
Source Material for the History of the Mennonites in Ontario, Mennonite
Quarterly Review 3, Number 1, 1929, pages 45-53.
[30] Ernest Alexander
Cruikshank, Documentary History of the Campaign upon the Niagara Frontier in
1813, Part III, August to October, Vol. 7, Lundy’s Lane Historical Society,
printed at the Tribune Office, Welland, 1905, page 153, accessed at www.ourroots.ca, March 24, 2014.
[31] Collections Canada,
War of 1812: Upper Canada Returns,
Norminal Rolls and Paylists, RG9, Militia and Defence, Series 1-B-7, Microfilm
t-10386, page 827.
[32] Collections Canada,
War of 1812: Upper Canada Returns,
Norminal Rolls and Paylists, RG9, Militia and Defence, Series 1-B-7, Microfilm
t-10383, pages 1031-1033.
[33] Collections Canada,
War of 1812, Board of Claims and Losses, Microfilm t-1127, page 415.
[34] Collections Canada,
War of 1812, Board of Claims and Losses, Microfilm t-1143, pages 1254-1256.
[35] Collections Canada,
War of 1812, Board of Claims and Losses, Microfilm t-1127, pages 1067-1074.
[36] Collections Canada,
War of 1812, Board of Claims and Losses, Microfilm t-1130, pages 1196-1200.
[37] Ernest Alexander
Cruikshank, Documentary History of the Campaign upon the Niagara Frontier in
1813, Part III, August to October, Vol. 7, Lundy’s Lane Historical Society,
printed at the Tribune Office, Welland, 1905, pages 172-173, accessed at www.ourroots.ca, March 24, 2014.
[38] Collections Canada,
War of 1812, Board of Claims and Losses, Microfilm t-1133, pages 816-831.
[39] Benjamin Smith’s Diary, Benjamin Smith Fonds F582, Ontario
Archives, Toronto, Ontario.
[40] Collections Canada, War of 1812: Upper Canada Returns, Nominal Rolls and
Paylists, Microfilm t-10386, pages 1075-1076 & 1162.
[41] Ely Playter’s Diary,
September 30, 1813, https://twitter.com/ElyPlayter1812, accessed June 5,
2015.
[42] Ely Playter’s Diary,
September, 1813, https://twitter.com/ElyPlayter1812, accessed June 6,
2015.
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