The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Battle of Chrysler's Farm (11/11/1812) - Oct 26th, 2003

http://members.tripod.com/~war1812/batcrys.html ^

[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.

...................................................................................... ...........................................

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The Battle of Chrysler's Farm

Major-General Wade Hampton planned to attack Lower Canada by following the Lake Champlain route, while Major-General James Wilkinson planned to move on Montreal from Lake Ontario. The American chances to succeed looked very good. Hampton had 5,000 men, while Wilkinson had 8,000 men stationed at Sackett's Harbor. But, the two general's were bitter enemies and Hampton resented that he was to serve under Wilkinson. This was to be a well coordinated plan of attack, but ended up being one party ignoring the other to the detriment of the project.

The planning of the campaign was disrupted by the arrival to Sackett's Harbor of John Armstrong , the secretary of war. Armstrong insisted that the attack be against Kingston, while Wilkinson perferred a direct assault on Montreal. When Armstrong finally agreed Wilkinson changed his mind and opted for Kingston and so it went. Montreal was finally agreed on as the primary objective.

On 17 October, Wilkinson left Sackett's Harbor in a flotilla of bateaux and headed down the St. Lawrence River. At once bad luck came to the Americans in the way of a early snow storm, they became snowbound on Grenadier Island with a number of their boats being damaged beyond repair. While on the island Jarvis Hanks of the 11th U.S. Infantry remembered a farmer that still had potatoes in the ground. The men who as a rule do not care how they appropriate food offered the farmer fifty cents a bushel for the potatoes. The farmer said he could get a dollar a bushel for them from the British in Kingston. Well talk spread around the American camp that the farmer was suppling the enemy with potatoes so the men just took them, without paying any money at all. The farmer complained to the American officers but they did nothing to help him. He left thinking how unwise his decision was not to sell the potatoes for fifty cents a bushel.

Wilkinson pressed on despite the cold weather. Part of his army was forced to march down the American side while the rest used the boats.


Major General James Wilkinson

News of the continued American movement reached Kingston, Sir George Prevost directed that, if the American force moved down river, the 49th and 89th Regiments should be sent in pursuit, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Morrison of the 89th Regiment. His force consisted of 630 rank and file: nine companies of the 89th totalled about 450 men, but the battalion companies of the 49th Foot had been reduced by casualties to a total of about 160 men and there were less than 20 artillerymen with two 6 pounder field guns. On November 6th this force embarked on two schooners the "Lord Beresford" and the "Sir Sydney Smith" and seven gunboats and a number of bateaux . Naval command was entrusted by Sir James Yeo to his subordinate Commander William Mulcaster R.N., who was serving as a captain on Lake Ontario.

General Wilkinson was now approaching Prescot. Since the guns of Fort Wellington commanded the St. Lawrence at Prescot, Wilkinson landed his army above Ogdensburg and floated the empty boats down river in the dark, the boats slipped quietly by the British guns at Fort Wellington. Wilkinson then re-embarked his troops. Whenever the Americans came to a narrowing in the river they were being shot at by Canadian farmers who were turning out as militia. Wilkinson ordered 1,200 troops to land on the Canadian shore at Iroquoois, below Prescot, as an advance guard to drive them off. This they succeeded in doing.


Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Wanton Morrison

The Americans reached Long Sault Rapids on 8 November. They deployed a force under Winfield Scott on the Canadian shore to oppose any attempt to interfere with the movement of the bateaux through the rapids. On 10 November Scott's troops along with Jacob Brown's brigade began to march on Cornwall leaving John Boyd's brigade to deal with Morrison's small force.

Lieutenant-Colonel Morrison's pursuing force landed at Prescot on the morning of November 9th. His "corps of observation" was increased by a detachment of 240 troops commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Pearson. These consisted of two flank companies of the 49th Foot, a detachment of Canadian Fencibles, three companies of Canadian Voltigeurs, a handful of miltia artillerymen with a 6-pr gun and a half dozen Provincial Dragoons to serve a couriers. Captain Morrison now had about 900 officers and men.

Commander William Mulcaster R.N. had to leave his armed schooners at Prescot but his gunboats pressed on to harass the American boats, as the American bateaux began to move through the rapids Mulcaster's gunboats opened fire and the small British force attacked.

Meanwhile Colonel Morrison, had established his headquarters in John Crysler's farmhouse, he decided that he had a good defensive position should the Americans choose to turn on him. From the farmhouse a dirt road ran on right angles to the river as far as a swamp that was impassable a half mile inland. There were log fences that provided protection for the troops and in front of them was a large field of winter wheat.


Canadian Voltigeurs and Mohawk warrior, two of the Canadian units that stood with British regulars under Morrison's command and turned back Wilkinson's army on November 11, 1813.

November 11th at 8 o'clock in the morning an alarm is sounded. An Indian had fired on an American reconnaissance patrol causing each side to believe that the other was about to attack.

General Wilkinson ordered General Boyd to advance in three columns, Boyd had 2,000 U.S. troops. He was to outflank the British and capture their field guns.

A force this large had no difficulties driving back skirmishers earlier, however the advancing American troops were stopped by the volley firing of companies of the 49th and 89th Regiments. The Americans tried to turn the British left flank but the 89th companies were swung around almost 90 degrees to counter this move successfully.

The Americans became flustered when they realized that the men wearing the grey greatcoats were not militia, but were the 49th Regiment of Foot. The order came to advance and Major Charles Plenderleath of the 49th Regiment led his troops against the American guns 120 yards in front of them. All of a sudden to the right of him a troop of American Dragoons were seen galloping down the King's Highway toward their position. If they could get behind them they could charge their rear turning the tide of the battle against them. Captain Ellis's orders to his company on the right flank were, "Halt ... front... pivot...cover... left wheel into line... fire by platoons from the center to the flanks." Ellis had wheeled his company backward to the left to face the cavalry. Ellis waited as the cavalry charged down on his men, then smoke and fire erupted from the British line shattering the American charge and eliminated the threat. Captain Ellis held his fire to that last moment to maximize the effect. His company wheeled back to the advance and the 49th captured the American guns.


Major General Wade Hampton

The Americans were forced to withdraw from the field and that night crossed back across the river to the American side. The army pushed on to make their junction with Hampton's army beyond the Long Sault, but Hampton, having been defeated at Chateauguay, refused to meet Wilkinson at St. Regis. Wilkinson, ill and discouraged, abandoned the campaign.

Lieutenant Colonel Morrison's troops had defeated the Americans that day against overwelming odds, however there was one American unit that caught his eye. He was so impressed with the U.S. 25th infantry's steadiness in battle that he sent a note to their commander, Colonel Edmund Gaines, hoping that they might meet after the war as friends.

Morrison reported his own casualties for the Battle of Crysler's Farm as being 22 killed, 148 wounded and 9 missing. General Boyd reported 102 killed, 237 wounded and more than 100 missing.

On the Niagara Frontier the humiliating defeats of Stoney Creek and Beaverdams forced the Americans to withdaw into Fort George. The victory at the Battle of the Thames did little to lift morale of those American troops on the Niagara Peninsula. Foraging parties were ambushed and Merritt's Dragoons harassed pickets and patrols alike. The pickets were especially vulnerable to Indain attacks that kept them constantly in a state of agitation.



The scene was now set for one of the most callous acts of the war, the burning of Newark. An act that would have far reaching effects for Americans living on the east bank of the Niagara.

[snippy_about_it]

No matter how many times we tried I don't think we ever gave battling Canada 100 percent.

It's like swatting a fly who is annoying you.

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on October 26:
1466 Desiderius Erasmus Holland, scholar/author (In Praise of Folly)
1685 Domenico Scarlatti Naples Italy, composer/harpsichordist
1759 Georges Danton France, revolutionary leader
1791 Charles Sprague Boston, banker/poet (Curiosity)
1800 Count Helmuth Karl Von Moltke, a Prussian Field Marshal, whose reorganization of the Prussian Army lead to military victories which allowed the unification of Germany.
1855 Charles Post who had a way with breakfast cereals
1861 Richard D Sears Boston, 1st to win US amateur national tennis match
1873 Thorvald Stauning Denmark, PM (1924-26, 1929-42)
1879 Leon Trotsky Russian revolutionary (pres of 1st Soviet)
1894 John S Knight WV, publisher (Knight-Rider)
1910 John Cardinal Krol former archbishop of Philadelphia
1911 Mahalia Jackson New Orleans, gospel singer (Whole World in his Hands)
1911 Sid Gillman NFL coach (LA, San Diego, Houston)
1914 Jackie Coogan LA Calif, actor (Uncle Fester-Addams Family)
1916 Fran‡ois Mitterand Jarnac France, President of France (1981-1995)
1917 Felix the Cat cartoon character
1919 Edward W Brooke 1st black senator in over 80 yrs (Sen-R-Mass)
1919 Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Aryamehr Shah of Iran (1941-79)
1931 Hank Garrett Monticello NY, actor (Car 54 Where Are You)
1932 Chinadorai Deshmutu India, field hockey player (1952)
1933 Suzy Parker San Antonio Tx, model/actress (Chamber of Horrors)
1936 Bruce Belland Chicago, singer (Tim Conway Hour)
1939 John Arden England, novelist/playwright (Left Handed Liberty)
1940 Mario Orosco 1st victim of NYC's Zodiac killer (survives)
1941 Harald Nielsen Denmark, soccer player (Olympic-silver-1960)
1942 Bob Hoskins Suffolk England, actor (Brazil, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?)
1945 Pat Conroy American writer (Great Santini, Prince of Tides)
1946 Pat Sajak Chicago, TV host (Wheel of Fortune, Pat Sajak Show)
1947 Jaclyn Smith Houston Tx, actress (Charlie's Angel, Nightkill)
1947 Hilary Rodham Clinton First Lady (1993-)
1948 Marshall Colt New Orleans La, actor (Eric-Lottery)
1950 Chuck Foreman NFL running back (Minnesota Vikings)
1951 Bootsy Collins Cin, rocker (Parliaments-We Got the Funk)
1953 Julian Keith Strickland drummer/guitarist (B-52's-Rock Lobster)
1954 Lauren Tewes Braddock PA, actress (Love Boat, Eyes of a Stranger)
1962 Cary Elwes actor (Glory, Princess Bride)
1963 Kerri Lynne Rosenberg Burlington Ia, Miss Iowa-America (1991-top 10)
1966 Olga Bicherova gymnastics (won title at 15yrs 33 days)

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Deaths which occurred on October 26:
0901 King Alfred the Great, die
1440 Gilles de Rais, French marshal, depraved killer of 140 children, hanged over slow fire.
1868 B F Randolph SC state senator, assassinated
1909 Prince Ito of Japan is assassinated by a Korean
1920 the Lord Mayor of Cork, Ireland, Terence McSwiney, died after a two-and-a-half-month hunger strike in a British prison cell, demanding independence for Ireland.
1957 Nicos Kazantzakis, writer (The Last Temptation of Christ), dies
1962 Louise Beavers actress (Beulah-Beulah), die at 64
1968 Erich Von Stroheim, actor/director (Napoleon), dies of cancer at 52
1972 Igor Sikorsky, Russian/US helicopter builder, dies at 83
1979 Park Chung-hee South Korean President is assassinated
1984 Sue Randall actress (Miss Landers-Leave it to Beaver), dies at 49
1990 William Paley CEO (CBS), dies at 89 from a heart attack
1991 Lori Rae Matthews crushed to death by an artist's 485 lb umbrella

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1966 MORRISON GLENN RAYMOND JR---MASON CITY IA.
1967 DANIELS VERLYNE W.---REAMSVILLE KS.
[03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1967 MC CAIN JOHN S.---NORFOLK VA.
[03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 03/US SENATOR]
1967 RICE CHARLES D.---SETAUKET NY.
[03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1969 BYNUM NEIL S.---VIAN OK.
1969 WARREN GARY D.---DES MOINES IA.
1971 EVELAND MICKEY E.---LOS ANGELES CA
1971 FINGER SANFORD I.---NEW YORK NY.
1971 GREEN THOMAS F.---RAMONA CA.
1971 LAUTZENHEISER MICHAEL---MUNCIE IN.
1971 NICKOL ROBERT A.---BETHLEHEM PA.
1971 TRUDEAU ALBERT R.---MILWAUKEE WI.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

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On this day...
1407 Mobs attack Jewish community of Kracow
1492 Lead pencils 1st used
1529 Thomas More appointed English Lord Chancellor
1662 Charles II of England sells Dunkirk to France
1682 William Penn accepts area around Delaware River from Duke of York
1774 1st Continental Congress adjourns in Philadelphia
1787 "Federalist Papers" published, calls for ratification of Constitution
1825 Erie Canal between Hudson River & Lake Erie opened
1863 Worldwide Red Cross organized in Geneva
1863 Football Association forms in England, standardizing soccer
1868 White terrorists kill several blacks in St Bernard Parish La
1869 1st American steeplechase horserace (Westchester, NY)
1876 President sends federal troops to SC
1881 Shootout at the OK corral, in Tombstone, Az
1887 Detroit (NL) beats St Louis (AA) 10 games to 5 in the World Series
1903 Yerba Buena is 1st Key System ferry to cross SF Bay
1905 1st Soviet (workers' council) formed, St Petersburg, Russia
1905 Union of Sweden & Norway ends
1911 Phila A's beat NY Giants, 4 games to 2 in 8th World Series
1916 Margaret Sanger arrested for obscenity (advocating birth control)
1921 Solomon Porter Hood named minister to Liberia
1934 While Wash player-mgr Joe Cronin honeymoons with Mildred Robertson, owner Clark Griffith's niece and adopted daughter, he is sold to the Red Sox
1941 US savings bonds go on sale
1942 US ship Hornet sunk in Battle of Santa Cruz Islands during WW II
1947 Maharajah of Jammu & Kashmir accedes to India
1949 President Truman signed a measure raising the minimum wage from 40 cents to 75 cents an hour.
1950 Mother Teresa founds her Mission of Charity in Calcutta, India
1950 A reconnaissance platoon for a South Korean division reaches the Yalu River. They are the only elements of the U.N. force to reach the river before the Chinese offensive pushes the whole army down into South Korea.
1950 Branch Rickey resigns as Brooklyn Dodger president
1951 Rocky Marciano defeats Joe Louis at Madison Square Garden
1954 Chevrolet introduces the V-8 engine
1955 Ngo Dinh Diem proclaims Vietnam a republic with himself as pres
1956 UN's International Atomic Energy Agency statute approved
1956 Vietnam promulgates its constitution
1957 USSR fires defense minister, Marshal Georgi Zhukov
1957 Vatican Radio begins broadcasting
1958 PanAm flies the 1st transatlantic jet trip-NY to Paris
1960 AL announces Minneapolis & LA to get teams in 1961
1960 AL's Washington Senators move to become Minnesota Twins
1962 Beatles tape "Please Please Me" & "Ask Me Why"
1964 Rolling Stones appear on the Ed Sullivan Show
1965 Beatles receive MBEs at Buckingham Palace
1965 Sylvia Likens tortured by teen girl gang
1966 1st Pacific communications satellite launched, Intelsat 2
1966 US aircraft carrier Oriskany catches fire at Gulf on Tonkin, 43 die
1967 Shah of Iran crowns himself after 26 years on Peacock Throne
1968 Soyuz 3 launched
1970 "Doonesbury" comic strip debuts in 28 newspapers
1971 UN votes to replace Taiwan with China
1972 Guided tours of Alcatraz (by Park Service) begin
1972 Henry Kissinger declares "Peace is at hand" in Vietnam
1973 Wings release "Helen Wheels"
1974 Cleveland Coliseum opens for NBA's Cavaliers & MISL's Crunch
1975 Anwar Sadat became 1st Egyptian president to officially visit the US
1976 Transkei gains independence, not recognized outside of South Africa
1976 Trinidad & Tobago becomes a republic
1977 5th & final test of space shuttle Enterprise
1977 Dr Clifford R Wharton Jr named chancellor of State University of NY
1980 St Louis Cards sack Balt Colt QBs an NFL record tying 12 times
1981 LA Dodgers beat NY Yankees, 4 games to 2 in 78th World Series
1982 Steve Carlton became 1st pitcher to win 4 Cy Young awards
1984 "Baby Fae" gets baboon heart transplant, lives 21 days
1985 On a poor call in 6th game, umpire Don Deckinger starts a string of events costing Cardinals the 82nd World Series
1987 Dow Jones down 156.83 points
1987 Head of Salvadoran Human Rights Comm assassinated by death squads
1988 Donald Trump bills Mike Tyson $2,000,000 for 4 month advisory service
1988 US-Soviet effort free 2 grey whales from frozen Arctic, Barrow, AK
1994 Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel and Prime Minister Abdel Salam Majali of Jordan signed a peace treaty at a desert site along the Israeli-Jordanian border.
1995 Islamic Jihad leader Fathi ash-Shiqaqi was assassinated in Malta

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Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Austria : National Day
Benin, Rwanda : Armed Forces Day
Iran : Birthday of HIM the Shahanshah
South Vietnam : Constitution & Republic Day (1955, 1956)
Switzerland : Flag Day
US : Mother-in-Law's Day (Sunday)
New Zealand : Labour Day-last Monday in October (Monday)
US some states : Veterans Day (Monday)
US : Francis E Willard Day-temperance day (Friday)
Wild Foods Day
National Magic Week (Day 2)
National Collectors Month
Vegetarian Awareness Month

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Religious Observances
Ang : Commemoration of Alfred the Great
Luth : Commem of P Nicolai, J Heermann, P Gerhardt, hymnwriters
Orthodox : Feast of Demetrios the Martyr
Lutheran : Protestant Reformation Day
Old Catholic : Christ the King Sunday
RC : Commem of St Evaristus, 5th pope (c 97-c 107), martyr

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Religious History
1779 Anglican clergyman and hymnwriter John Newton wrote in a letter: 'The Lord is so rich that He easily can -- so good that He certainly will -- give His children more than He will ever take away.
1813 Birth of Henry T. Smart, English sacred organist. Though largely self-taught, Smart published many compositions, two of which are still popular as hymn tunes: LANCASHIRE ("Lead On, O King Eternal") and REGENT SQUARE ("Angels From the Realms of Glory").
1889 Birth of Millar Burrows, American archaeologist. Director of the American School of Oriental Research at Jerusalem 1931-32, 1947-48), Burrows' most popular published work was "What Mean These Stones?" (1941).
1948 The Pentecostal Fellowship of North America was organized at Des Moines, Iowa. The association is comprised of 24 Pentecostal groups and meets annually to promote unity among Pentecostal Christians.
1963 One month before his death at age 65, English apologist C.S. Lewis wrote in a letter addressed to a child: 'If you continue to love Jesus, nothing much can go wrong with you, and I hope you may always do so.'

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

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Thought for the day :
"People see God every day, they just don't recognize him."

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You might be a child of the 80's if...
3 words: "Atari" "IntelliVision" and "Coleco". Sound familiar?

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Murphys Law of the day...(H. L. Mencken's Law)
Those who can -- do.
Those who cannot -- teach.
Those who cannot teach -- administrate.

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Astounding fact #906,346...
If you toss a penny 10000 times, it will not be heads 5000 times, but more like 4950. The heads picture weighs more, so it ends up on the bottom.

[U S Army EOD]

We could have pulled this one off if we had just told the Canadians that all those troops coming across the border were either deserters and were just trying to advoid the draft. I mean, it worked in the sixties and seventies.

[snopercod]

An American army had once again suffered defeat at the hands of a much smaller foe.

This battle plan must have been where Trent Lott and Bill Frist learned their tactics against the democRATS.

[snippy_about_it]

1917 Felix the Cat cartoon character

Good morning Valin.

[manna]

Present!

[snippy_about_it]

Morning manna.

[SAMWolf]

Morning Neil.

[SAMWolf]

Hi Radu. Take an extra hour off from scraping today. ;-)

[SAMWolf]

LOL! We tired to take Canada during the Revolution, the War of 1812 and I read there was a plan to invade Canada during our Civil War. I wish I could remember where I read about that one.

[SAMWolf]

Morning E.G.C.. Beautiful Fall day here today. BBQ Chicken on the Weber for dinner tonight.

[SAMWolf]

Morning Eastbound.

[SAMWolf]

Another ship that participated in the Tampico Affair is heard from. Thanks aomagrat.

[SAMWolf]

I'm impressed, you do pay attention!!

[SAMWolf]

Morning Feather. I'm NOT ignoring you.

[Soaring Feather]

Yes you are!
Sniff!

[SAMWolf]

1881 Shootout at the OK corral, in Tombstone, Az

The stuff legends are made from.

I remember my dad taking me to the theatre to see the Lancaster/Douglas version. Back then going to the theatre was a real treat for us. My dad has always been a big time western fan, he said as a kid in Poland the American West always fascinated him.

I liked "Tombstone" I thought it was the best, but then it had Sam Elliott in it.

[SAMWolf]

LOL! Good Morning EOD. The problem was that Carter let them all come back.

[SAMWolf]

Morning snopercod. I think Lott's plan was even worse.

[SAMWolf]

Hi Manna!