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Posted on 09/07/2003 12:01:20 AM PDT by SAMWolf
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
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In the early evening of July 25, word reached Major General Jacob Brown that the British were on the move. Rumour had it that his enemy was staging a two-pronged advance; some of the British troops at Queenston were advancing toward them while others were crossing the Niagara in an attempt to take over the American supply depot at Fort Schlosser, to then threaten the American rear. Without confirming these accounts, Brown sent forward a brigade under the ever-eager Winfield Scott in order to harass the enemy near Queenston and get an idea of their numbers.  This battle is more commonly known as the battle of Lundy's Lane. The British and Americans fought to a bloody stalemate that resulted in hundreds of dead and wounded. The confrontation devastated both sides but it caused the Americans to lose momentum in their invasion of the Niagara peninsula. Within weeks they would cross back to the U.S. for the last time. Three miles into his outing Scott’s men discovered just how inaccurate those rumours were when they marched right into the army of Phineas Riall perched on a hill by Lundy’s Lane. Riall’s men looked down upon the Americans from beside the little church on the high knoll where they had placed an impressive number of cannon. The rest of Riall’s line stretched down both sides of the hill forming a crescent shape in the center of which Scott’s men were standing. They could hear the British bugles calling, as the first arrivals of Lieutenant General Gordon Drummond’s 800 troops formed up. Scott knew that not only the lives of his men, but the reputation of his brigade hung in the balance. A prudent commander would likely fall back. Within moments, Scott made his decision and a dispatch was sent to Brown: "Brig.-Gen. Scott will engage the British - send reinforcements."  Major General Phineas Riall, British Army Scott’s defiant stand opened the bloodiest battle of the war so far. These cannon on the high ground devastated the lone American brigade who could only respond with musket fire. Many of the battalion’s commanders were killed or wounded early on. Brown arrived on the field but did not realize the size of the opposing force and engaged his army piecemeal, sending only Eleazar Ripley’s brigade forward to help Scott’s battered men. These officers soon concluded that they had to take the guns if they were to control the battle. James Miller, a young colonel under Ripley’s command, was asked to make a frontal assault on the guns. His understated response was, “I’ll try, sir”, which would earn him a place in American history. Darkness would become the common enemy of both armies and it would become difficult to distinguish friend from foe. Throughout this long night, the darkness led to numerous blunders: General Phineas Riall unwittingly delivered himself into the hands of American troops; British regulars on the knoll opened fire on their fellow Glengarry Fencibles, and troops mistakenly beat and bayoneted comrades while wandering about blindly searching for their ranks.  General Winfield Scott The only light amidst the darkness and smoke was provided by cannon fire and musket blasts. It was enough to give Miller’s men glimpses of the heaps of bodies accumulating on the hillside. Darkness surrounded the base of the hill so that British gunners did not see Miller’s men until they had emptied their muskets on them. After a fierce hand-to-hand struggle Miller drove the British from the hill. Brown’s entire army now fought furiously to hold on to the guns. Over the next two hours, both armies struggled for the guns on the high ground with what one American called “a desperation bordering on madness.” Despite a neck wound, Drummond stood up front and ordered his men to hold fast on the hillside. Everyone, including the British soldiers who had arrived from the European war, were shaken by the ferocity of the battle.  In the series of British counter-attacks to retake the guns, the Americans were often less than twenty yards away. In some instances, the range was so close that the enemies touched bayonets before their muskets opened fire. Many soldiers would later remember how, at the height of the horror, their musket flashes lit up the blackened faces of their enemies causing their gritted teeth to resemble macabre grins. Both armies had trouble keeping order in their forces. The cannons had claimed many senior officers and others could not be rallied in the darkness. The British could not dislodge the Americans from the hill. After each unsuccessful attempt, with its deafening chorus of discharging musketry and cannon, an eerie calm descended as the British fell back to regroup. The only sounds breaking this silence were the moans of the wounded, and the roar of the falls on the river. Both had their effects on the men.  After fighting fiercely for hours and with no water left on the battlefield, some men were half-crazed with thirst. With the parched and weary Americans losing men and ammunition at an alarming rate, an injured Jacob Brown was finally convinced that keeping the hill was an exercise in futility. The Americans withdrew slowly toward Chippawa hoping to recoup some of their energy for another assault in the morning. With the British back in possession of the hill, they dragged dozens of dead horses into a makeshift barricade bracing for a counter-attack that would never come. Both armies were so exhausted and dehydrated that even by morning neither side would have the energy to continue. All night, groans for water, or for a quick end to wounded men’s misery, carried over the battlefield. When morning broke, it revealed a scene of devastation amidst the usually tranquil fields and orchards. Each side counted over 800 killed, wounded and missing. Another sight struck the survivors; too tired to drag them along in their withdrawal, the Americans had left behind all but one of the guns over which so many men perished.
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Imbedding the Press, next Sunday on Mail Call.
LOL! Would that be a good one or what!!
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