The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Burning of Newark and Buffalo (December 1813)

The Capture of Fort Niagara

The burning of Newark caused even the battle hardened British regulars to seek vengence. The Canadian militia also wanted to get revenge after seeing their families and neighbours living in appalling conditions, some under canvas in the dead of winter. McClure's therory that it was necessary to burn the town so the British would not have shelter was rather weak when Butler's Barracks, with it's store of tents and other military equipment was not touched at all. McClure's comment that "the enemy is much exasperated" was an understatement to say the least. The call for retribution was universal.

Fort Niagara

On 13 December events moved forward that would see the rage felt by the British and Canadian Militia unleashed on the American frontier. On that day Sir Gordon Drummond was appointed president of the council and administrator of Upper Canada. He also assumed command of all the troops in the province.

Drummond wasted no time. He arrived at Vincent's headquarters in St. Davids on the seventeenth and ordered an immediate attack on Fort Niagara. Colonel John Murray was put in command to lead a surprise night attack. Captain Merritt's Dragoons went all over the country side looking for boats. Members of the Lincoln militia hauled some boats all the way from Burlington Bay, this was no small task. Captain Merritt himself would not be able to take part in this raid due to illness and exhaustion.

Late on the night of 18 December Colonel John Murray embarked his troops at a ravine some two miles up stream from their objective. The force consisted of detachments of the 100th Regiment of Foot, the Royal Scots and the flank companies of the 41st Regiment of Foot. The Lincoln Militia acted as boat handlers and guides.

General Gordon Drummond

Private Shadrack Byfield of the 41st Foot stood in the narrow ravine waiting to enter the boats for the slip down river to Fort Niagara. His attempts to restore some feeling in his feet by stamping them brought a whispered order to keep quiet from Lieutenant Bullock. To the sergeant he added take that man's name. Not only was Byfield cold but if he survived the attack on Fort Niagara he could expect extra duties.

The boats quietly made their way down the Niagara River and landed near Youngstown. As Byfield formed his company he saw Sergeant Andrew Spearman of the Grenadier company of the 100th Foot slip by. It would be hard to miss the huge bulk of Spearman. For all his size though Spearman moved liked a cat. He surprised the lone picket outside a tavern and choked him into silence. After forcing the password from him he dispatched him with a single thrust of his bayonet. The rest of the picket inside met the same fate.

As they approached the main gate Byfield let out a big sigh of relief. All was quiet. His company was to follow up on the main attack by the 100th. His feet and cold were forgotten as a sudden challenge from the main gate broke the silence.

American Infantry, 1813 by H.C. McBarron

Sergeant Spearman had walked across the drawbridge and gave the sentry the password in answer to his challenge "who goes there". As the guard opened the sally port Spearman strangled him with his massive hands.

A shout of alarm came from the fort as the gate swung open. Byfield charged through and formed up with the rest of his company in reserve. Nothing had been left to chance. Even in the darkness he could see Daniel Servos, an officer in the Lincoln Militia standing with a piece of wood to jam in the gate to keep it from being closed behind them.

There was an eerie feeling of fantasy about the battle that followed. Except for a volley from the Royal Scots, who were holding the salient angle of the fort, little musket fire was in evidence. The fort was taken at the point of the bayonet and in the stillness of the night the cries of the wounded seemed to be magnified.

100th Regiment of Foot (NAC)

The Americans lost sixty-five dead and six wounded, the British lost six dead and five wounded. Also captured were twenty-nine guns, seven thousand muskets, seven thousand pairs of shoes and a huge supply of clothing that originally was captured by the Americans from the British.

One of the prize trophies of the victory was the American battle flag that flew from the flag pole during daylight hours. Byfield knew that it would be sent to England as a spoil of war.

The jails at the fort had eight Canadians in them that had been arrested by Joseph Willcocks, among them was eighty year old Peter McMicking of Stamford. Those same cells were quickly filled with the four hundred prisoners taken.

INTERIOR OF FORT NIAGARA

Shadrack Byfield stood warming himself by the fireplace in the comfortable stone house in Youngstown. He had marched out to take picket duty with the rest of his company. His sergeant gave each man fifteen minutes in the commandeered house to thaw out from the bitter cold. Looking around, he could feel some pity for the owners. Tommorow it probably would be a pile of ashes.

With the mornning of 19 December reinforcements arrived under Major General Phineas Riall. He gave the order to burn Youngstown and the Tuscarora village before marching on to Lewiston. The Americans on Lewiston Heights decamped as the British approached leaving behind some guns and two hundred barrels of flour. After torching Lewiston Riall pushed on to Manchester and Fort Schlosser. Since the bridge at Tonawanda Creek had been destroyed by retreating American forces, the general turned back to Lewiston crossing the Niagara River there into Queenston leaving the American frontier in flames.

In the meantime General Drummond was putting plans into motion to end the threat to the peninsula for the balance of the winter. His next objective was the destruction of the American Forces at Buffalo and the town itself.

The Burning of Buffalo

As soon as Fort Niagara had been captured the British under the command of General Riall, march down the American side of the Niagara River. Still seeking revenge for the burning of Newark. Riall had five hundred regulars and five hundred Indian warriors with him. They marched through Lewiston, Manchester (now Niagara Falls N.Y.), Youngstown burning every farm building for several miles inland from the river.

THE PORT OF BUFFALO IN 1813

Meanwhile a company of British troops were approaching Fort Schlosser, a little ways before the fort they captured a blockhouse and also took eight Americans prisoner. The Niagara Frontier on the U.S. side of the Niagara River now lay in flames.

There was almost no resistance, although the Canadian Volunteers did destroy the bridge over the Tonawanda Creek, but Wilcox and his men could at best only delay the inevitable.

The Americans were surprised again on December 30th when General Riall came back, his objective was to capture any supplies that could be moved and destroy the rest including any American ships wintering in Buffalo or Black Rock, and any other buildings that might shelter the American army were to be burned.

Street map of the Village of Buffalo Before it was Burnt in 1813

Lieutenant-General Sir Gordon Drummond was a man of action and a strict disciplinarian. He wished to avoid the ransacking of American property that had been the trademark of the American occupation on the Niagara peninsula. His orders for the raid on Buffalo and Black Rock were that any men caught looting would be put to death as punishment.

The British forces cross the captured bridge over the Scajaquada Creek. The cannons are booming at Black Rock and the American General Amos Hall has twleve hundred men with him, they put up a fight for awhile then the militia gives way and retreats through Buffalo.

Riall burned both Black Rock and Buffalo and all the buildings he had missed on his first raid.

3oth of December, 1813 Buffalonians defend their small settlement from the British who were marching on the town in retaliation for an earlier burning of a Canadian settlement.

He reported his losses as one hundred and twelve killed, wounded and missing. General Hall counted the American losses at thirty killed, forty wounded and sixty-nine taken prisoner. One other serious loss to the Americans was the destruction of three of Perry's small schooners which were at Black Rock for the winter.

The British depart keeping a garrison at Fort Niagara. The people of Buffalo slowly return to their village, the frontier from Buffalo through Black Rock to Eighteen Mile creek has been burned black. The British have destroyed three hundred and thirty three buildings. In Buffalo only three are still standing.

Sir George Prevost followed this action with a proclamation stating his regrets that the British had been forced to take measures "so little congenial to the British charactor", but ending with the suggestion that the Americans had better behave themselves in the future.

Gunner, United States Artillery, 1813 by H.C. McBarron

The flames of Buffalo die down, but this would not be the end. Fire breeds fire, revenge seeds revenge. Before the war ends more homes will be burned on both sides of the border from the smallest cottage to the executive mansion of the President himself.

Additional Sources:

library.thinkquest.org
www.warof1812.ca
history.amedd.army.mil
freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~wcarr1
www.buffalonian.com/hnews

Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization. The primary area of concern to all VetsCoR members is that our national and local educational systems fall short in teaching students and all American citizens the history and underlying principles on which our Constitutional republic-based system of self-government was founded. VetsCoR members are also very concerned that the Federal government long ago over-stepped its limited authority as clearly specified in the United States Constitution, as well as the Founding Fathers' supporting letters, essays, and other public documents.

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Iraq Homecoming Tips

~ Thanks to our Veterans still serving, at home and abroad. ~ Freepmail to Ragtime Cowgirl | 2/09/04 | FRiend in the USAF

PDN members and fans. We hope you will consider this simple act of patriotism worth passing on or taking up as a project in your own back yard. In summary:

Who They Are: Operation: Stitches Of Love was started by the Mothers of two United States Marines stationed in Iraq.

What They Are Doing: We are gathering 12.5"x12.5" quilt squares from across the country and assembling the largest quilt ever produced. When completed we will take the quilt from state to state and gather even more squares.

Why They Are Doing This: We are building this quilt to rally support for the Coalition Forces in Iraq and to show the service members that they are not forgotten. We want the world to know Nothing will ever break the stitches that bind us together as a country.

Ideas to start a local project:

Obtain enough Red, White and Blue material (cloth) for a 12.5 x 12.5 quilt square.
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Consider this tribute as a project for your civic group, scouts, church or townhall group.

Locate an elementary school with an after school program in your neighborhood or locate an after school program in your neighborhood not attached to a school and ask if you could volunteer one or two afternoons and create some squares with the kids.

Invite some VFW posts to share your project in honor of their post.

Send us webmaster@patriotwatch.com for digital photos of in progress and finished project for various websites, OIFII.com and the media.

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UPDATED THROUGH APRIL 2004

The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul

Click on Hagar for
"The FReeper Foxhole Compiled List of Daily Threads"

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on June 17:
1239 Edward I king of England (1272-1307)
1703 John Wesley cofounded Methodist movement/author
1742 William Hooper signed Decl of Ind
1811 Jon Sigurdsson Iceland, leader/collects Icelandic legends
1817 Thomas Maley Harris, Bvt Mjr General (Union volunteers), died in 1906
1818 Charles Gounod Paris, France, opera composer (Faust)
1832 Sir William Crookes chemist/physicist; discovered thallium
1867 John Robert Gregg Ireland, inventor (shorthand)
1870 George Cormack created "Wheaties" cereal
1871 James Weldon Johnson lawyer, 1st black admitted to Florida Bar
1882 Igor Stravinsky Oranienbaum, Russia, composer (The Rite of Spring)
1904 Ralph Bellamy Chicago, actor (Air Mail, Dive Bomber, Trading Places)
1910 Red Foley Blue Lick Ky, country singer (Mr Smith Goes to Washington)
1914 John Hersey author (Hiroshima, A Bell for Adano)
1915 Stringbean [David Akeman], Ky, banjoist/comedian (Hee Haw)
1917 Dean Martin, Steubenville Ohio, singer/actor (with Jerry Lewis)
1919 Kingman Brewster college president (Yale)
1920 Fran‡ois Jacob France, biologist/bacteriologist (Nobel 1965)
1923 Elroy (Crazylegs) Hirsch AAFC, NFL halfback, end (LA Rams)
1928 James Brown godfather of soul (I Feeeel Good))
1929 Tigran Petrosyan USSR, world chess champion (1963-69)
1940 Bobby Bell NFL linebacker (KC Chiefs)
1943 - Newt[on] L Gingrich, (Rep-R-G, 1979- /Speaker of House 1995-97)
1945 Eddy Merckx Belguim, cyclist (5 time winner of Tour de France)
1946 Barry Manilow NYC, singer(?) (Mandy)
1948 Phylicia Allen Ayers Rashad Houston Tx, actress (Cosby)
1951 Joe Piscopo Passaic NJ, comedian(?) (SNL, Miller Lite commercials)
1965 Kami Cotler Long Beach Calif, actress (Elizabeth-The Waltons)
1980 Venus Williams, Lynwood Calif, tennis star

Deaths which occurred on June 17:
0656 Osman ibn Affan, 3rd kalief of Islam (644-56) murdered
0676 Adeodatus II, Italian Pope (672-76), dies
0855 Leo IV, Italian Pope (847-55), dies
1501 Jan I Olbracht, King of Poland, dies
1672 Orazio Benevoli, Italian composer, dies at 67
1797 Aga Mohammed Khan, cruel ruler of Persia, castrated and killed
1815 Hammida, Algerian admiral, dies in battle
1862 Charles J Canning, English 1st viceroy of British-Indies, dies at 49
1863 Isham W Garrott, US attorney/Confederate brig-general, dies in battle
1885 Gen Edwin H K Freiherr von Manteuffel, mayor (Elzas-Lothar'n), dies
1939 Eugene Weldman last guillotined in France
1961 Jeff Chandler actor, dies at 40
1974 Pamela Britton actress (Blondie, My Favorite Martian), dies at 50
1979 Lou Frizzel actor (Dusty Rhoades-Bonanza), dies at 58
1984 Swale Kentucky Derby winner, collapses & dies

1986 Kate Smith singer (God Bless America), dies in Raleigh NC at 78

1987 Dick Howser NY Yankee & KC Royal mgr, dies at 51 of brain cancer
1989 David S Griggs astronaut, dies in crash of WW II vintage plane
1989 John Matusek Oakland Raider/actor, dies at 38 of a heart attack
1992 Dewey Balfa, bayou fiddler, dies at 65

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1966 ADAMS OLEY N. GREEN CITY MO.
[EXPLODE AIR IMPACT SEA]
1966 COBBS RALPH B. EAST ST LOUIS IL.
[EXPLODE AIR IMAPCT SEA]
1966 COLLETTE CURTIS D. WINDSOR CT.
[EXPLODE AIR IMPACT SEA]
1966 CAIRNS ROBERT A. HIGHLAND CA.
[EXPLODE AIR IMPACT SEA]
1966 DEMPSEY JACK I. HELENA MT.
[EXPLODE AIR IMPACT SEA]
1966 FRENG STANLEY J. MISSON HILL SD.
[EXPLODE AIR IMPACT SEA]
1966 GALANTI PAUL E. LODI NJ.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1966 GRAVITTE CONNIE M. CA-VEL NC.
[EXPLODE AIR IMPACT SEA]
1966 HESS GENE K. TOWNSEND DE.
[EXPLODE AIR IMPACT SEA]
1966 ROMIG EDWARD L. HAVERTOWN PA.
[EXPLODE AIR IMPACT SEA]
1966 SAVOY M.J. UNIVERSITY CITY MO.
[EXPLODE AIR IMPACT SEA]
1966 SIEGWARTH DONALD E. NEWARK NJ.
[EXPLODE AIR IMPACT SEA]
1966 WASHBURN LARRY E. SAN ANTONIO TX.
[EXPLODE AIR IMPACT SEA]
1969 SPARKS DONALD L. CARROLL IA.
["LETTERS FOUND, DIED IN PW CAMP"]
1970 COCHRANE DEVERTON C. BROOKLINE MA.
[SEARCH NEG]
1970 LAKER CARL J. CLEARWATER FL.
["HEAD WOUND, SEARCH NEG"]

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

On this day...
653 St Martin I ends his reign as Catholic Pope
676 Deusdedit III ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1291 Akko reconquered after 200 years by French crusaders, and destroyed
1397 Union of Kalmar established between Denmark, Sweden & Norway
1535 English Catholic Cardinal John Fischer state rights
1579 Anti-English uprising in Ireland
1579 Sir Francis Drake lands on the coast of Calif
1700 Mass. orders priests to leave the colony
1745 American colonials capture Louisburg, Cape Breton I from French
1775 Battle of Bunker Hill (actually it was Breed's Hill)
1789 3rd Estate in France declared itself a national assembly
1815 Stephen Decatur conquerors Algerian frigate Mashouda
1837 Charles Goodyear obtains his 1st rubber patent
1856 Republican Party opens its 1st national convention in Philadelphia
1861 Battle of Boonville, MI-Brig General Lyon defeats Confederate forces
1863 Battle of Aldie, Confederates fail to drive back the Union in Virginia
1863 Travelers Insurance Co of Hartford chartered (1st accident insurer)
1864 General John B Hood replaces General Johnston
1880 John Ward, Providence, pitches perfect game vs Buffalo
1882 Tornado kills 130 in Iowa
1885 Statue of Liberty arrived in NYC aboard French ship `Isere'
1894 1st US poliomyelitis epidemic breaks out, Rutland, Vermont
1897 William Frank Powell, NJ educator, named minister to Haiti
1909 A Kopff discovers asteroid #682 Hagar
1919 "Barney Google" cartoon strip, by Billy De Beck, premiers
1928 Amelia Earhart leaves Nfld to become 1st woman to fly the Atlantic (as a passenger in a plane piloted by Wilmer Stultz)
1930 Chuck Klein sets Phillies hitting streak at 26 straight games
1937 Marx Brothers' "A Day At The Races" opens in NY
1940 France asks Germany for terms of surrender in WW II
1942 1st WW II American expeditionary force lands in Africa (Gold Coast)
1944 Republic of Iceland proclaimed at Thingvallir, Iceland
1945 Day of Unity in West Germany (National Day)
1946 SW Bell innaugurates mobile telephone commercial service, St Louis
1947 1st round-the-world civil air service leaves NYC
1948 Joe Cronin pinch hit HRs in both ends of a doubleheader
1950 Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Syria sign security pact
1950 1st kidney transplant (Chicago)
1953 Riots in East Germany for reunification
1953 Sup Court Justice Wm O Douglas stays executions of spies Julius & Ethel Rosenberg scheduled for the next day their 14th anniversary
1954 CIA exile army lands in Guatemala (JF Dulles and United Fruit Co)
1954 Rocky Marciano beats Ezzard Charles in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
1954 Televised Senate Army McCarthy hearings ends
1957 Tuskegee boycott begins (Blacks boycotted city stores)
1958 Radio Moscow reports execution of Hungarian ex-premier Imre Nagy
1960 Ted Williams hit his 500th home run

1963 Supreme Court rules against Bible reading/prayer in public schools

1965 28.14 cm (11.08") of rainfall, Holly, Colorado (state 24-hour record)
1965 1st bombing by B-52 (50 km north of Saigon)
1966 Peter Green joins John Mayall's Bluebreakers
1967 China becomes world's 4th thermonuclear (H-bomb) power
1969 "Oh! Calcutta!" opens in NYC (almost entirely in the nude)
1970 Edwin Land patents Polaroid camera
1971 C U Cesco discovers asteroid #2399 Terradas
1972 5 arrested for burglarizing Democratic Party HQ at Watergate
1974 Felix Aguilar Observatory discovers asteroids #2997 & #3083
1975 Voters in Northern Mariana Is approve commonwealth status with US
1978 Ron Guidry sets Yankee record with 18 strike-outs
1980 C Shoemaker discovers asteroid #2586 Matson
1982 Pres Reagan 1st UN Gen Assembly address ("evil empire" speech)
1982 President Galtieri resigns after leading Argentina to defeat
1986 Chief Justice Warren Earl Burger resigns Antonin Scalia nominated
1988 Microsoft releases MS DOS 4.0
1988 Women sentenced to 90 years in 1st product tampering murder case
1991 Country entertainer Minnie Pearl suffers a stroke at 78
1991 South Africa abolishes last of its apartheid laws
1999 The Republican-controlled House narrowly voted to loosen restrictions on sales at gun shows, marking a victory for the NRA(and the American people).

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

Germany : Day of German Unity/Rememberance Day (1953)- Date changed 1990 to Oct 3rd
Iceland : Republic Day (1944)
Japan : Lily Festival
Mass : Bunker Hill Day (1775)
Paraguay : Chaco Peace Day (1935) (Sunday)
US : Father's Day (Sunday)
US : Flag Week (Day 5)
International Violin Day
National Rose Month

Religious Observances
Ang : St Alban's Day [0622]
Feast of St. Botolph.
Feast of St. Avitus, priest and confessor.

Religious History
1703 Birth of John Wesley, English founder of Methodism. The systematic disciplines of the 'Holy Club,' which John and his brother Charles founded, elicited the nickname 'Methodies' from their critics.
1822 In New York City, the first elders of the newly founded African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Zion Church were ordained.
1846 Iowa College was chartered in Davenport under the joint sponsorship of the Congregational and Presbyterian churches. The school changed location in 1859 and was later renamed Grinnell College.
1859 Birth of J. Wilbur Chapman, Presbyterian pastor and evangelist who authored a number of hymns, including 'One Day When Heaven Was Filled with His Praises.'
1963 English apologist C.S. Lewis wrote in a letter: 'Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave it with regret? There are better things ahead than any we leave behind.'

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

Thought for the day :
"Equality of the sexes leaves women standing on buses."

Things To Do If You Ever Became An Evil Overlord...
DO NOT include a self-destruct mechanism unless absolutely necessary. If it is necessary, it will not be a large red button labeled "Danger: Do Not Push". The big red button marked "Do Not Push" will instead trigger a spray of bullets on anyone stupid enough to disregard it. Similarly, the ON/OFF switch will not clearly be labeled as such.

The World's Shortest Books...
The Amish Phone Book

Dumb Laws...
Fort Madison Iowa:
The fire department is required to practice fire fighting for fifteen minutes before attending a fire.

Top 10 signs your family is stressed...
The cat is on Valium.

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