encre_vol21_no3_anglais

HISTORY
A Bitter Victory 1814–1815
By LS Fabrice Mosseray, HMCS CARLETON
n 1812, the Americans thought that invading British North
America (modern-day Canada) would be a walk in the park.
In fact, however, the poorly commanded Americans were
kept in check by the British troops, the colonial regiments (the
Fencibles), the provincial militias and allied tribes. Even though the
Americans invaded Upper Canada (modern-day Ontario) in
September 1813 after the Lake Erie debacle, they were halted in the
following weeks during their march on Montréal. They were defeated
on the Niagara in July 1814 and eventually pushed out of the colony, 1
I
and their states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio were
invaded in turn.
The taking of Washington
Having control of the Great Lakes and the Atlantic contributed to the
success of land operations. The abdication of Napoleon I in April
1814 enabled Great Britain to send reinforcements to Canada. With
the support of the Royal Navy and the Halifax naval base, the British,
using amphibious operations, took Washington in August and then
Maine in September. They burned the White House and the Capitol,
thereby avenging York (Toronto) and Newark (Niagara-on-the-Lake),
which had been pillaged by the Americans the previous year.
In September, Lake Huron came under British control thanks to
Lieutenant Miller Worsley’s bold actions. One month earlier, he had
been forced to burn his schooner, HMS NANCY, in Georgian Bay, to
spare himself from imminent capture by the two American schooners
patrolling the lake. Now Worsley, along with his crew of Amerindians,
troops from Newfoundland and Canadian fur traders, approached in
canoes and surprised the two enemy ships, seizing them and hoisting
the Union Jack on their masts.
At the end of the summer of 1814, Commodore Sir James Lucas Yeo
controlled Lake Ontario, thanks to the launching of ships such as
HMS ST. LAWRENCE (104 guns) 2 and HMS PSYCHE (56 guns)
from Kingston.
The Battle of Lake Champlain
The Governor General of the colony, Lieutenant-General Sir George
Prévost, wanted to march on Albany and New York. He would first
have to take Plattsburgh and destroy the Lake Champlain fleet.
Although Prévost had a solid track record in past battles, he revealed
himself to be incompetent in this case. Among other things, he did not
see eye to eye with Captain George Downie, whose ill-equipped flotilla
had to brave opposing winds. The Royal Navy, occupied with events
in Europe and the blockade on the American East Coast, had
neglected Downie’s flotilla, anchored at Île-aux-Noix. The crews were
poorly trained, their equipment was mismatched, and a number of the
guns did not fire properly.
On 11 September 1814, Downie launched his eight ships and eleven
gunboats against the enemy fleet, which consisted of four ships, six
1 Battles of Châteauguay, Crysler’s Farm and Lundy’s Lane.
2 This ship was bigger than Lord Nelson’s famous HMS VICTORY.
30 LINK Vol. 21, No. 3, November 2012
Capt Downie sends his ships against the American fleet defending Plattsburg. Due to the
incompetence of Sir Prévost, the British attack against the city was a complete failure.
(George Stanley, La guerre de 1812 : les opérations terrestres)
galleys, four gunboats and two transport sloops. 3 Captain Thomas
MacDonough’s American fleet was anchored in a line in order to fire
on any ship that entered Plattsburgh Bay. It was positioned in such a
way as to force Downie to attack in an irregular headwind, which
drove him closer to the enemy ships, bringing him within range of
their carronades. The American gunners lived up to their reputation—
the cannon fire was devastating. Despite the established plan, Prévost
did not attack Plattsburgh at the agreed-upon moment—he was supposed
to take control of the land batteries and use them against the
enemy fleet. After two hours of hard battle—which ended with
Downie dead, most of his officers killed or wounded, and his ships in
ruins—the English flotilla surrendered to MacDonough. In addition to
this defeat at Plattsburgh, for which Prévost was disgraced, the British
also lost the Battle of Baltimore. As a result of these defeats, the
British were forced to return to the colony, and their plenipotentiaries
were placed in an unfavourable position during peace treaty negotiations
with the Americans in Ghent, Belgium.
Who won the war?
Both sides claimed victory. In accordance with the Treaty of Ghent,
signed on 24 December 1814, Amherstburg was returned to
Canada, and the border and the Great Lakes were demilitarized.
The border was redrawn; from then on, it followed the 49th parallel
from the Great Lakes to the Pacific. Great Britain, weary from the
Napoleonic Wars, did not wish to continue fighting against the
United States or maintain a fleet on the Great Lakes. Construction
of warships on the Great Lakes gave way to construction of canals
and fortifications. 4 The lifting of the Royal Navy’s blockade enabled
3 These numbers vary from source to source.
4 The Rideau, Lachine and Welland canals; and the Québec, Halifax and
Kingston citadels.