T6gC9 
 
E 356 
 .T68 C9 
 Copy 1 
 
 Centennial Series 
 War of 1812^15 
 
 Thi 
 
 Battle of York 
 
 An Account of the Eight Hours' Rattle from 
 
 the Number (Bay to the Old Fort 
 
 in T>efence of York on 
 
 April 27, 1813 
 
 Barlow Cumberland, M.A. 
 
CENTENNIAL SERIES. WAR OF 1812-15 
 
 The Battle of York 
 
 AN ACCOUNT OF THE EIGHT HOURS' BATTLE 
 
 FROM THE HUMBER BAY TO THE OLD 
 
 FORT IN THE DEFENCE OF YORK 
 
 ON 27th APRIL, 1813 
 
 BY 
 
 BARLOW CUMBERLAND, M.A. 
 
 TORONTO 
 
 WILLIAM BRIGGS 
 
 1913 
 
TbZCCf 
 
 Copyright, Canada, 1913, by 
 Barlow Cumberland 
 
The Battle of York 
 
 It used to be said, and not so many years ago, 
 that Canada was an unhistoric country, that it had 
 no history. Perhaps this was because our peoples 
 in these western parts, whose beginnings of occupa- 
 tion commenced but a little over one hundred years 
 ago, have been so much occupied with clearing the 
 forests and developing our resources that but little 
 time has been given to the studying and recording 
 of its earlier days. Our thoughts have been de- 
 voted more to what is called the practical, rather 
 than to the reminiscent, to the future rather than to 
 the past. Yet in this past is the potent formative 
 power for creating the character of our people, the 
 sources of patriot emulation and honour by which 
 our progress is to be guided and governed. Much 
 has been done of later years by our Historical Socie- 
 ties and devoted searchers in collecting and pub- 
 lishing material from original sources and personal 
 memories which has greatly helped the writers of 
 our History, so that instead of the dry and matter- 
 of-fact collations from statistics which were laid 
 before us in our early days has come the awakening 
 of the memories of the devotion, valour, patriotism, 
 and self-sacrifice of the men and the women who 
 were the first comers, and founders of our country. 
 The vivid history of the times when men lived and 
 
4 THE BATTLE OF YORK 
 
 strove — and died for a noble cause, thinking more 
 of their country than of themselves, for those who 
 were to follow them than of their own gain. 
 
 The festival of the Tercentenary at Quebec 
 brought more evidence to the public view of the 
 romance and ideality of our Canadian History and 
 of how marvellously our French and English-speak- 
 ing peoples have, as Canadians, been intertwined. 
 
 An impulse has thus been given to interest in His- 
 torical research, the caring for and preservation of 
 Historical Memorials. The ideal has at last touched 
 thie practical and the true value of Historical evi- 
 dences and teachings are appreciated. 
 
 No better example of this can be given than that 
 the City of Toronto has now undertaken the duty, 
 on behalf of all Canada, of restoring and maintain- 
 ing the old Fort of York as a national memorial. 
 
 For this there is indeed cause to rejoice, for in 
 Ontario we have but few memorials to record the 
 brave days of old. The statue of Brant at Brant- 
 ford and that under way of Tecumseh in the Valley 
 of the Thames tell of the loyalty and fortitude of 
 the noble Indian tribes who fought side by side 
 with our soldiers for the defence and maintenancy 
 of our country against American invasions. 
 
 On the south shore of Lake Ontario the lofty 
 shaft of Brock's monument erected by the Militia 
 of Canada keeps fresh the memory of the glorious 
 days of Queenston Heights and daily teaches the 
 lessons of how our forefathers gladly laid down 
 their lives on the 13th of October, 1812. 
 
THE BATTLE OF YORK 5 
 
 Away to the east, where the St. Lawrence runs 
 beneath the ramparts of old Quebec, stands the 
 honoured monument to the two heroes who died 
 upon the fatal field — Wolfe and Montcalm, victor 
 and vanquished, who in valour, in death, and in 
 fame, were not divided. 
 
 Canadian history has lavished its records upon 
 the surrounding neighbourhood and at '" Wolfe's 
 Cove" and the " Plains of Abraham," there is well 
 known historic ground. 
 
 Yet we, too, nearer home, have an eventful and 
 strangely parallel scene of strife. 
 
 In the neighbourhood of our city of Toronto, the 
 " Humber Bay " is our " Wolfe's Cove," the " Gar- 
 rison Common" our "Plains of Abraham"; over 
 them in one long day a fierce battle raged, on them 
 a victor died in the hour of victory. 
 
 As we pass along the w^estward of where the Hum- 
 ber Bay begins its graceful curve there will be 
 found no memorial raised to do honour to whom 
 honour is due. 
 
 As we enter the city of Toronto, we shall find no 
 statue erected to the fallen, no inscription set up to 
 record tlie deeds of the eventful day, and at the Old 
 Fort, the culminating point of the attack, not, as 
 yet, any tribute paid to the memories of those 
 gallant defenders who fought and died in the de- 
 fence of York on the 2Tth April, 1813. 
 
 As there are no memorials, perhaps, by recalling 
 the events and following the strife along the shore 
 and the positions successively taken by the contest- 
 
6 THE BATTLE OF YOEK 
 
 ants, each spot will itself become to us a memorial 
 and the whole shore an historic monument. 
 
 With the short space at our disposal this will 
 only be a resume of a longer publication to follow 
 at a later date. 
 
 On the 13th of October, 1812, the Battle of 
 Queenston Heights had been fought; General Sir 
 Roger Sheaffe had succeeded to the command of the 
 British Forces and on that eventful day had pressed 
 forward his reserves and completed the victory. At 
 the conclusion of the day an armistice for three 
 days, asked for by the Americans, had been assented 
 to, and while the body of Brock was being laid to 
 rest in the bastion of Old Fort George, the Ameri- 
 cans fired minute guns in token of respect to their 
 victorious foe. Thereafter their forces on the east 
 bank and the British on the west bank of the Niagara 
 River watched one another without enjoying hostili- 
 ties. The campaign of that year had closed with an 
 unbroken series of British victories. 
 
 The Americans at the outset had considered, and 
 Jefferson had written in August, 1812, that the 
 acquisition of Canada would be but " a mere matter 
 of marching " giving " an experience for the attack 
 of the next year and the final expulsion of England 
 from the American continent." With such enor- 
 mous preponderance in population and in arma- 
 ment this estimate was what might have been 
 expected, but they did not reckon on the loyal and 
 dogged valour of the Canadians in defence of their 
 homes and liberties — a valour which still exists to- 
 dav. 
 
THE BATTLE OF YORK 7 
 
 During the winter of 1812-13 strenuous efforts 
 were made by the American Government in for- 
 warding stores and reinforcements to their Ontario 
 frontier. They massed these men in three divisions 
 for the coming invasion of Canada. General Dear- 
 born was placed in command of the Army of the 
 Centre, and at the opening of the spring of 1813 had 
 collected his forces, 3,000 at Buffalo, 3,300 on the 
 Niagara frontier, and 4,000 at Sackett's Harbour. 
 To the east 5,000 men had been concentrated at 
 Lake Champlain, and to the west 2,000 men were in 
 fortified camp under General Harrison, on the 
 banks of the Miami, immediately to the south of 
 Detroit. 
 
 Commodore Chauncey was in control of the naval 
 operations with his headquarters at Sacketts' Har- 
 bour at the east end of Lake Ontario. 
 
 The close of navigation of 1812 had left both sides 
 in about equal naval strength on Lake Ontario, and 
 immense activity was executed by both in prepara- 
 tions for obtaining control of the lake in the spring. 
 Guns and ammunition were being brought up on 
 sleighs from Quebec, and 500 seamen under Com- 
 modore Sir James Yeo were on their way from 
 Halifax overland across New Brunswick and along 
 the lower St. Lawrence to man the British fleet, 
 but did not arrive at Kingston until the 1st of May, 
 while Kingston, where two new ships were under 
 construction, was strongly fortified, Y'ork, where 
 another was being built, was poorly provided, and 
 the mistake made by the British in building their 
 
8 THE BATTLE OF YORK 
 
 new ships in different places laid them open to the 
 attack which followed. 
 
 The land forces on the Canadian side were 970 
 men and 1,200 Indians at Detroit and Amherstburg, 
 General Vincent in command at Fort George with 
 1,700 men and 500 Indians distributed between 
 Newark and along the Niagara River to Fort Erie. 
 General Sheaffe 400 at Fort York, Sir George Pre- 
 vost with, at the east end of the lake and in 
 Lower Canada, 3,000 regulars, making about 7,700 
 in all, a small force with which to repel an invasion 
 as was then impending by 17,000 men, but they were 
 strong in determination and flushed with the vic- 
 tories which they had obtained in the campaign of 
 the previous year. 
 
 The campaign of 1813 opened by the attack on 
 Ogdensburg, 22nd February, when Lieut.-Colonel 
 Macdonell, with his recently raised Glengarry 
 Fencibles, the Companies of the 8th Regiment, then 
 on their way to York, and the local militia crossed 
 the river on the ice and captured eleven guns, a 
 quantity of arms and ammunition, and a stand of 
 colours, and the American flag of the garrison, 
 which were subsequentl}' sent to King George, and 
 also burned the barracks and two armed schooners. 
 At the opening of the Spring, Chauncey's fleet, 
 spurred by the enterprise at Ogdensburg, was ready 
 to sail from Sackett's Harbour ; the British fleet at 
 Kingston was still shut in by ice, so it was deter- 
 mined to carry out the intention of attacking York. 
 
 The fact of York being the seat of Government 
 of the Province of Upper Canada gave it an import- 
 
THE BATTLE OF YORK 9 
 
 ance greatei* than it really merited, for it tlieu con- 
 sisted of only a small village of less than one thou- 
 sand inhabitants, where houses were built mainly 
 about the banks of the River Don. The Provincial 
 Parliament, under Sir Roger Sheaffe, as adminis- 
 trator, had assembled on 25rh February, in the 
 Parliament Buildings,— two long one-storey wooden 
 buildings erected near the foot of the street which 
 still bears the name of Parliament Street. 
 
 The defences of the town, if indeed they can be 
 properly so termed, were entirely inadequate. 
 
 In the summer of 1811 General Brock had sent 
 a report to headquarters condemning them as defi- 
 cient and proposing additions, but nothing had been 
 done beyond building the stone magazine which 
 played so tragic a part in one day's doings. The 
 rear of the town was entirely without defences, the 
 virgin pine forests with trees 180 to 200 feet high, 
 came close down to the houses which extended 
 beyond what is now known as the east end of Queen 
 Street. On the skirts of the woods a contemporary 
 letter says "the Five Nation Indians who have come 
 down for the war are encamped and keep us alive 
 with their war dances, and make the woods echo 
 with their savage yells." At the east way, were a 
 blockhouse and tete-du-pont, or earthworth, on the 
 Kingston Road, covering the bridge across the Don. 
 
 Two miles to the west of the town on a triangular 
 knoll rising between the Garrison Creek and the 
 shore of the lake, and commanding the entrance to 
 the harbour was the earthwork and blockhouses 
 constructed by Governor Simcoe, being the present 
 
10 THE BATTLE OF YORK 
 
 Old Fort York, existing to-day very much in its 
 outlines as it did in 1813. In this were the maga- 
 zines, official residences and the barracks of the 
 garrison. 
 
 This was then composed of the Regulars and the 
 3rd York Militia, in duty under the command of 
 Colonel Chewett, and among whose officers at the 
 time were Major Allan, Captain Stephen Heward, 
 Lieutenants Richardson, Jarvis, and Robinson, and 
 Sergeants Knott, Humberstone, Baird and Bridge- 
 ford, whose names through their descendants are 
 still familiar. 
 
 This Regiment had been in active service on the 
 frontier in the previous year, and it was in refer- 
 ence to it that Brock, when receiving his fatal 
 wound at Queenston Heights, had given the order, 
 " Push on the York Volunteers." 
 
 The armament of the fort was incomplete, the 
 guns expected from Kingston not having arrived, 
 but fortunately the Duke of Gloucester brig which 
 was being converted into a troopship, was wintering 
 in the harbour, and the six small six-pounders from 
 her and some of the guns for the new gunship which 
 was being built in the dockyard at the foot of Sim- 
 coe Street, of which eight 18-pound cannonades had 
 arrived from Fort George, were available. The guns 
 from the ships were distributed between the West- 
 ern Battery, a small 18-pound battery, thrown up 
 on the edge of the high bank on the shore, east 
 of the site of the present Stanley Barracks, in the 
 Half-Moon Battery, a semi-circular field work about 
 400 yards to the west of, and protecting the road- 
 
THE BATTLE OP YOEK 11 
 
 way to the garrison, and in the bastions of the old 
 fort itself. 
 
 Away to the west in a wide clearing, were the 
 remains of the old French fort, known as Fort 
 Kouille, or Fort Toronto. Mention is made of three 
 old 18-pounders without trunnions, having been 
 brought into service by clamping them with iron 
 hoops on pine logs, which thus served for gun car- 
 riages. These had been dug up, it was said, in the 
 old French fort. 
 
 As a position of military strength, the place was 
 not worthy of attack, but it was good policy on the 
 part of the Americans to attempt the capture of 
 the two vessels, the Prince Regent, 12 guns, and the 
 Gloucester^ which were known to be wintering in 
 the harbour, and of the new 30-gunship which was 
 almost completed, as their supremacy in the lake 
 would thus be materially advanced. 
 
 General Sheaffe, who was acting as Adminis- 
 trator of the Province, had been detained by his 
 own ill-health and the meeting of the Parliament 
 was in command at York. The troops there under 
 him on 26th April, consisted in all of six hun- 
 dred men, Eegulars and Militia, with one hundred 
 Indians under Major Givens. 
 
 The Regulars consisted of one corps of the Glen- 
 garry Fencibles, a local Canadian regiment, which 
 had been raised in the Scots settlements around 
 Glengarry; fifty men of the Newfoundland Regi- 
 ment, raised in their Island; 350 men of the 3rd 
 York Militia, then in garrison, and the Grenadier 
 Companies, about 100 men of the 8th, or King's 
 
12 THE BATTLE OF YORK 
 
 Eojal Regiment, which, with much good luck, had 
 arrived on the 25th, in batteaux, on their way from 
 Kingston, and were allowed to remain over at York 
 to rest for a day after their long journey. It was, 
 alas, a long rest for most of them. These, with the 
 artificers and staff in the dockyard, made up 600 
 in all. 
 
 ChaunceA's fleet at Sackett's Harbour, consisting 
 of fourteen armed ships and two transports, with 
 the Madison as flagship, were manned by 800 sailors 
 and carried 112 guns, of which 40 were 32-p()unders 
 of longer range and throwing heavier shot than any 
 of the guns at York. 
 
 The troops, consisting of 1,700 " picked soldiers," 
 had been embarked with Major-General Dearborn 
 in command, on the 23rd April, but the weather 
 being stormy, the fleet put back and remained in 
 port on the 21th, collecting some more men, did not 
 sail until the 25th. Before sailing, General Pike, 
 who had been appointed to command the land 
 forces, issued his orders for the landing and attack, 
 and for a reminder and encouragement to his men 
 added to his address: "It is expected that every 
 corps will be mindful of the honour of the American 
 name and the disgraces which have recently tar- 
 nished our arms, and endeavour by a cool and 
 determined discharge of duty to support the one 
 and wipe oft" the other." 
 
 This clause thus frankly admitting the defeats at 
 Detroit, Queenston Heights and Ogdensburg, was 
 quite in accord with Pike's character and record 
 as an intrepid explorer, after whom Pike's peak had 
 
THE BATTLE OF YORK 13 
 
 been named, and a thorough and energetic soldier, 
 devoted to his profession. Another clause appear- 
 ing to have been inspired from higher quarters, 
 reads : " The poor Canadians have been forced into 
 this war and their property should be held sacred, 
 but the commanding General assures the troops 
 that should they capture a large quantity of public 
 stores he will use his best endeavours to procure 
 them a reward from their Government." 
 
 It is strange to note how completely the Ameri- 
 cans have always underestimated and mistaken the 
 spirit of the Canadian peoples. It had been so in 
 1775, when they attacked the French-Canadians in 
 Quebec, again in 1812, and yet again in 1866 when 
 they really believed that the Canadians would flock 
 to the side of the Fenians and gladly throw off the 
 yoke of the monarchical form of Government under 
 Avhich they were considered to be held in bondage. 
 
 They forget that French and English tongues in 
 Canada speak from Canadian-British hearts, and 
 that the Union Jack, for which all three periods 
 have fought, is the peoples' happy flag of freedom. 
 
 Dearborn's men, incited to wipe out dishonour 
 and obtain booty, were soon to find that the pooi- 
 Canadians of 1812 could fight for the honour of 
 their flag, without hope of reward, and gallantly 
 die in defence of their country and their home. 
 
 With the British fleet at Kingston waiting for 
 its sailors and safely blocked in by ice, Chauncej' 
 and his expedition sailed boldly out into the open 
 lake. 
 
14 THE BATTLE OF YORK 
 
 Rumours had been heard all during the winter 
 of the preparations which were being made on the 
 American side. Yeo and his sailors were still 
 struggling through the snow from Halifax. There 
 were no telegraphs in those days, and but one road, 
 the Kingston road, which wound its way through 
 the forests and the scattered settlements which 
 fringed the shores of the lake. News came slowly. 
 It was a time of expectancy and all Canada was 
 waiting for the attack. 
 
 It was known at York that the breaking up of 
 the ice would be the signal for the sailing of the 
 enemy's fleet. The ice had given way in the harbour 
 and the Prince Regent warped down and sailed out 
 into the lake on the 24th, to reconnoitre the position 
 and so escaped the invasion. Videttes had been 
 posted out upon the Scarborough Heights and along 
 the eastern shores of the lake, to give earliest warn- 
 ing of any advance, and general activity prevailed. 
 All men capable of bearing arms were being drilled, 
 young Allan McNab (afterwards Sir Allan Mc- 
 Nab), a lad of only 14, but stout and large for his 
 years, stood in the ranks alongside his old weather- 
 beaten and war-scarred father, and a general sense 
 of cheerful readiness prevailed. The Parliament 
 had but recently completed its sittings and festivi- 
 ties were still being maintained. A little girl of six 
 narrated that her mother, Mrs. Grant Powell, had 
 issued invitations for a party on the evening of the 
 26th, the supper table had been laid and she had 
 been dressed to see the company arrive. Only one 
 lady and no gentlemen came, when later on her 
 
THE BATTLE OF YORK 15 
 
 father hurried in saying the American fleet had 
 been sighted, and he and the other volunteers had 
 been ordered under arms. Then may have come the 
 scene so graphically told by our poet, Charles Mair, 
 in the stirring lines in his Drama of Tecumseth. 
 
 " What news afoot? 
 Why every one's afoot and coming here 
 York's citizens are turned to warriors 
 The learned professions go a-soldiering 
 And gentle hearts beat high for Canada. 
 For, as you pass, on every hand you see 
 Through the neglected openings of each house 
 Through doorways, windows, our Canadian maids 
 Strained by their parting lovers to their breasts, 
 And loyal matrons busy round their lords 
 Buckling their arms on, or, with tearful eyes 
 Kissing them to the war." 
 
 About 5 o'clock on Monday afternoon the 26th, 
 some ten ships of the enemy were sighted from the 
 Highlands of Scarborough about eight miles out on 
 the lake, and steering apparently towards York. At 
 full speed the vidette rode express to bring the news 
 into town. The signal guns were fired, the single 
 bell of the church was rung, and was promptly 
 obeyed, as the call to arms. Every man who could 
 hold a musket or secure a gun volunteered for ser- 
 vice, Alexander Wood, Quetton St. George, and 
 Beikie, with others unattached, fell into the ranks, 
 and Donald MacLean, the Clerk of the House, 
 throwing off his gown, brought out his gun, to die, 
 alas, next morning, on the Humber beach, fighting 
 alongside the 8th Grenadiers. 
 
16 THE BATTLE OF YORK 
 
 One Company was sent east to guard the King- 
 ston Road, outworks were posted, and the rest of 
 the forces held in readiness to move either to the 
 east flank or the west flank, so soon as the direction 
 of the attack should be learned. By 8 o'clock that 
 evening General Sheaffe, with his Adjutant of Mili- 
 tia, General Shaw, had completed their prepara- 
 tions. 
 
 Every man went out ready to his post, and 
 through the night a close watch was kept to dis- 
 cover where the fleet which was known to be some- 
 where outside in the dark, would endeavour to make 
 a landing. 
 
 At dawn, through the haze, it appeared as thougli 
 the fleet, which had been lying to outside, were head- 
 ing to land on the peninsula just opposite the town, 
 to which access could be obtained by road. An out- 
 post had been kept here on the narrow place called 
 the " portage," for the lake had not then broken 
 through the sandbar. A landing at this place 
 would have avoided the forts at the entrance of the 
 harbour and come direct at the town. A brisk 
 breeze from the east, howevt^-, was springing up, 
 and about 5 a.m tlie fleet bore away to round the 
 Gibraltar Point. It was a fine sight, as an eye- 
 witness described, to see those sixteen armed vessels 
 crowded with men, sailing in regular order, the 
 flagship leading, the others following in a line, and 
 each towing several large boats for the purpose of 
 landing the troops. The intention had been to land 
 at the large clearing where the old French fort had 
 been, but the wind had strengthened, and so the 
 
THE BATTLE OP YORK 17 
 
 vessels were earried farther around the point. Sail 
 was then rapidly taken in and the ships rounded to 
 and came to anchor at the eastern end of the Hum- 
 ber Bay. 
 
 It was now certain that the attack was to be made 
 from the western end of the town, and ^lajor Givens 
 and his Indians were dispatched to distribute them- 
 selves in the wooded banks above the beach at the 
 Humber Bay, with the Company of the Glengarry 
 Regiment to act as supi^ort. Orders were given to 
 recall the men from the east of the town and for 
 the main body to concentrate on the ground to the 
 west of the garrison. 
 
 The boats of the fleet were got out and manned 
 by the sailors, the troops were promptly embarked 
 and the landing began between G and 7 a.m., under 
 the cover of the guns of the ships. Captain Forsyth 
 with his companies of riflemen were to lead the van 
 of the American attack. As they neared the shore 
 in two batteaux and came under a brisk fire from 
 the Indians and Glengarries, Avho were concealed 
 in the thickets, the Captain gave the orders : " Rest 
 on your oars,-' " Prime." It is to be remembered 
 that the arms then used were only flintlocks, requir- 
 ing priming from powder horns and available onh^ 
 at short distances, the uuiximum effective range 
 being about two hundre<l yards. It looked for a 
 moment as though there was a hesitation on tlie 
 part of the attack, due to tlie fire from the shore. 
 Meantime the Canadian supports were being hur- 
 ried forward from the town, and the Newfoundland 
 Company and the Grenadiers of th(.» 8th were sent 
 
18 THE BATTLE OF YORK 
 
 forward. Major-General Shaw, with a detachment 
 of the Glengarries and a gun, were sent out in the 
 direction of the Dundas Road to protect the rear 
 and take such steps as were necessary. Coming 
 later into action and down from the highlands, the 
 ponds in front of them had to be crossed. It was 
 late in the month of April when the ice in the har- 
 bour had broken up and that in the inland ponds 
 was rotten. Tradition tells that as the men were 
 crossing over the frozen ponds the ice gave way 
 and two Grenadiers having been drowned, the Gren- 
 adier pond thus gained its name. Let us trust 
 that the name which perpetuates the memory of 
 the gallant companies will ever be retained. It has 
 been proposed to change the name to " Howard 
 Lake," in recognition of the donor to the city of 
 Toronto of the adjacent park. Let the park be 
 called Howard Park, but the preserving of the 
 name of Grenadier Lake is due to those who fought 
 and died on this eventful day. 
 
 This Grenadier Lake then is an appropriate place 
 for our first memorial. Notwithstanding the fire 
 from the Indians and Fencibles, Forsyth effected a 
 landing. MacLean was killed defending the beach. 
 The shore and banks as far as the clearing of the 
 old French fort were clad with brush and thick 
 woods, into which the riflemen at once spread, and 
 their boats, which had been landing more men, re- 
 turned with further reinforcements. 
 
 General Pike had been watching the debarkation 
 from the flagship Madiso7i, he had noted the firing 
 from the woods and the stopping of the boats. 
 
THE BATTLE OP YORK 19 
 
 Becoming impatient lie said to one of his staff, " By 
 G — I can't stay here any longer. Come, jump into 
 the boat " — a boat had been reserved for him along- 
 side, and he at once started for the shore. 
 
 Pike was an impetuous young man at the age 
 of 34 and a bold soldier. He was the son of an old 
 soldier, and joining the American regular service 
 when but a lad, had served with distinction upon 
 the Indian frontiers and in the early western explor- 
 ation of the Mississippi. To his great joy and at 
 his own urgent request he had been appointed to 
 the command of the brigade for the attack on York. 
 A letter of his, written to his father the day before 
 the expedition sailed, has been preserved, in which 
 he writes: — 
 
 "I embark to-morrow in the fleet at Sackett's 
 Harbour at the head of a column of choice troops 
 on a secret expedition. Should I be the happy 
 mortal destined to turn the scale of war, will you 
 not rejoice, oh my father! May Heaven be propi- 
 tious and smile on our cause, but if we are destined 
 to fall, may my fall be like Wolfe's — to sleep in the 
 hour of victory." 
 
 His letter, the events of the day proved to be 
 almost prophetic. We cannot but admire such a 
 spirit, even though it be in an enemy, nor fail to 
 give every credit to so gallant a foe, a man of mettle 
 and of valour, by whom it was almost a credit to 
 have been defeated. 
 
 Covered by the broadside from the fleet which, 
 firing over the heads of the boats, swept the banks, 
 
20 THE BATTLE OF YORK 
 
 Major King and the 15th Battalion of American 
 Infantry were landed in support of the riflemen, 
 and in the contest which followed, Forsyth, as a 
 writer says, " lost some men, but no credit." 
 
 Here, where the Americans landed and Donald 
 MacLean fell defending the shore, is our second 
 memorial. 
 
 Opposed by these reinforcements, Major Givens, 
 with his Indians and the Fencibles, had kept up a 
 brisk fire among the trees and brushwood, fighting 
 every inch of the way, but were driven back. The 
 two Companies of the 8th had now come up from 
 the clearing, and entering the wood, a gallant 
 charge was made upon the advancing American 
 column along the top of the bank, causing it par- 
 tially to retire. In this the Grenadiers suffered 
 severely, and Captain MacNeil, while valourously 
 leading his men, was killed. 
 
 MacNeil was buried by the enemy near the spot 
 where he fell, and afterwards, in 1829, the Loyalist 
 paper of the 9th of May, says: 
 
 " The waters of the lake having lately made great 
 inroads along the bank, and the grave being in 
 danger of being washed away, the Commander of 
 the ()8th Regiment had the remains removed and 
 placed on that day in the garrison burying-ground. 
 A firing party and the band of the regiment attended 
 on the occasion." 
 
 This bank referred to is the high ground on the 
 eastern end of the Humber Bay, where the Grand 
 Trunk Railway now passes through a deep cutting. 
 
THE BATTLE OF YORK 21 
 
 Others of the gallant men, on both sides, who 
 fell in the struggle along these lofty banks fring- 
 ing the bay, were also buried on them, and from 
 time to time, as the cliff has been worn away 
 by the waters of the lake, military accoutrements, 
 fragments of firearms and of skeletons have been 
 exposed to view. This is indeed sacred ground. The 
 open cliff, with its clay sides seamed by the rains, 
 sloping to the lake, and its feet washed by the 
 ceaseless waves, mutely says to the passerby, " Here 
 MacXeil died." One can stand upon its heights to- 
 day and in imagination see the long line of ships 
 at anchor, the boats making for the shore, hear the 
 scream of the grapeshot, the pattering of the mus- 
 ket, the whoops of the Indians as they skirmished 
 from tree to tree, and the hoarse cry of the red- 
 coats when their leader fell. Then on another day 
 sixteen years afterwards see his brothers standing 
 with reversed arms while the coflin was raised from 
 its first grave, and follow the solemn procession 
 winding over the garrison plain with mournful 
 music and muffled drums to the military burying- 
 ground, where the blank volleys fired in the air told 
 that the hero had again been laid to rest. The 
 thought of such scenes moves the pulses of the heart 
 and emboldens the spirit to stand firm for native 
 land. 
 
 Here on the high bank where MacNeil was killed 
 would be the proper place for our third memorial. 
 
 It was now past 9 o'clock. The landing-place 
 having been left clear, the American reinforcements 
 
22 THE BATTLE OF YORK 
 
 were fast pushed forward. Two hundred of the 
 Militia and the Newfoundland Company had now 
 arrived from the east end of the town, but our men 
 were unable to sustain the contest against the super- 
 ior and ever increasing numbers aided by the flank 
 fire from the ships. 
 
 The American main body, having now been all 
 landed, a general advance was ordered. General 
 Pike in person led the first line, composed of the 6th, 
 15th, 16th and 21st regiments, with a detachment of 
 light and heavy artillery. The second line vras formed 
 under command of General Pearce. The American 
 advance was slow, for the ground, at all times wet 
 and marshy, as it is in parts even to this day on 
 the Garrison Commons, was made heavier by the 
 melting snow. Lieut. Fanning, of the 3rd American 
 Artillery, found great difficulty in dragging his field 
 pieces through the woods and across the rivulets 
 from which the bridges had been removed. 
 
 Our men were fighting behind every tree. An 
 advance party of the Americans was sent forward 
 to clear the woods, and stubbornly resisting, our 
 men were pressed back by superior numbers. On 
 reaching the open ground around the old French 
 fort our men retired to the Western Battery. The 
 men of the 8th, having been reduced by the loss of 
 their Captain and half of their men killed or 
 wounded, combined to man the guns. 
 
 Here at the old French Fort the monument of 
 Fort Eouille already forms our fourth memorial. 
 
 The Americans now emerged upon the clearings. 
 Fanning's guns were brought up and fire opened 
 
THE BATTLE OF YORK 23 
 
 upon the battery. Pike ordered his buglers to sound 
 the advance, and their blast, carried down by the 
 breeze, was answered by cheers from the ships. 
 
 The light draught vessels beat up east and around 
 the point and along the shore, and subjected our 
 men to a heavy flank fire, and poured their broad- 
 sides into the batteries. This western battery had 
 been manned with the 18-pound guns removed from 
 the " Gloucester/' but they were far inferior to the 
 long 32's of the fleet which rained shot into them 
 at a range which they could not meet. Pike sent 
 out his aide-de-camp, Lieut. Fraser, with a sergeant, 
 to the right of the battery to reconnoitre. They 
 returned w-ith the report that the men in the battery 
 were spiking the guns toward the fleet. 
 
 The General immediately ordered the 16th Regi- 
 ment to lead and make an assault. Captain Wal- 
 worth and his men advanced with trailed arms 
 under fire from the battery, whose grapeshot were 
 whistling about them as they moved forward. Hav- 
 ing covered a portion of the distance just as the 
 16th were about being steadied and ordered to 
 charge, an explosion took place in the battery. One 
 of our men, incautiously holding a port fire behind 
 him had dropped the fuse into the cartridges for the 
 guns which were in a moveable magazine lying open 
 behind his back. The explosion, besides killing and 
 wounding a number of our men, seriously damaged 
 the defences and dismounted another gun. Shat- 
 tered by the fire from the ships, their number decim- 
 ated, and their defences destroyed, the remnant 
 
24 THE BATTLE OF YORK 
 
 then retired, but having first given the enemy 
 another round and then spiked the guns. 
 
 All this had been taking place around the point 
 on which the Stanley barracks now stand, and in 
 the battery at a spot opposite the foot of Strachan 
 Avenue. In 1867 there were still some remnants 
 of this western battery to be seen on the edge of the 
 bank, but all have since been washed away or 
 levelled. 
 
 ^lust we not admire these men of ours, attacked 
 in front by a force admitted by their enemy to out- 
 number them three to one, stormed at by the shot 
 from the fleet which had followed up along the 
 shore, with inferior artillery and no good defensive 
 works, yet making a courageous stand at every 
 available spot, and retiring when over-mastered, 
 carrying with them their wounded and leaving to 
 the victors only their dead, their dying and their 
 spiked guns? 
 
 Here, at the position of the Western Battery, is 
 our fifth memorial. 
 
 It was now about 12 o'clock. The fleet again bore 
 up along the shore and poured in their fire upon 
 the Halfmoon Battery. Pike and the first line again 
 advanced towards this halfmoon, which was a small 
 semi-circular earthwork without guns, thrown up 
 across the road leading to the fort. The fleet, under 
 Chauncey, tacked still further up and anchored 
 within six hundred yards of the garrison. The 
 schooners had been well handled, and our men suf- 
 
THE BATTLE OF YORK 25 
 
 fered more from the flank fire from the sjuns of the 
 fleet than they did from the men in front. 
 
 Sheaffe had now retired to his stronghold, the 
 garrison, in the okl fort. Pike, having advanced his 
 men to within striking distance of the garrison, 
 ordered a halt, making his men lie down and wait- 
 ing for the six guns under Major Eustis to be 
 brought up, while the garrison was silenced by the 
 guns of the fleet. 
 
 It was now between half-past 1 and 2 o'clock, and 
 there was a lull. 
 
 Pike concluded, and not unreasonably, that it 
 was the preliminary to the making of proposals for 
 a surrender, so advanced his men past the Half- 
 moon Battery and halting them about two hundred 
 yards from the main battery, sent Lieut. Riddle 
 forward with a party to reconnoitre. The road to 
 the garrison here used to follow close along the 
 bank, and as Pike, who, with his two aide-de-camps, 
 had also gone forward, was sitting down in the act 
 of speaking to a Canadian militiaman named Joseph 
 Shepherd, a deep tremor was felt, a sudden flash 
 and roar, a column of smoke mingled with beams 
 and huge stones shot up into the air. The maga- 
 zine of the fort had been blown up. Pike was 
 mortally crushed by the falling debris. As soon as 
 the shock had sul)sided, the Americans, their leader 
 having fallen, were for a time thrown into confusion, 
 but after some delay entered in without further 
 opposition and took possession of the fort from 
 which, after arranging to destroy his fortress, 
 
26 THE BATTLE OP YORK 
 
 Sheaffe had retired his men. The enemy had cracked 
 the nut, but found the kernel empty. 
 
 There has been a great deal of discussion upon 
 this event as to whether it was accidental or inten- 
 tional, and some confusion has been caused by con- 
 founding this second explosion with the first one 
 which had taken place just a little before in the 
 western battery. 
 
 What had occurred was as follows : When Gen- 
 eral Brock had condemned a previous powder maga- 
 zine, which was a small wooden shed only sixty 
 yards from the King's or Government House, a new 
 one had been constructed on the waterfront of the 
 fort. A sketch by Lossing shows it as a low build- 
 ing below the parapet of the fort, close down by the 
 waterside. All doubts as to its position have been 
 cleared up by the discovery of the original plan of 
 1816, by Dr. Doughty, of the Archives of Ottawa, 
 and published in the Evening Telegram by Mr, John 
 Ross Robertson. In this the exact position is given 
 and marked " Hollow left where the magazine was 
 blown up on April 27th, 1813." 
 
 There was at that time a long ditch under the 
 whole western face of the old fort below the ram- 
 parts and strengthened by sloping pickets, as shown 
 on this plan of 1816. The road from the western 
 battery followed along the bank until it reached this 
 ditch when it turned northward, and turning to the 
 right, crossed the ditch on a bridge to the entrance 
 of the fort. The magazine was three hundred feet 
 further to the east from the corner and on the water 
 side below the south-western bastion. This maga- 
 
THE BATTLE OP YORK 27 
 
 zine outside the fort was built of solid masonry, 
 with a stone wall on the lake side, and a small jetty 
 for unloading boats. The roof, with heavy beams, 
 was nearly level with the surface of the ground, and 
 stone steps descended into its vaults. In these were 
 stored five hundred barrels of gunpowder, and an 
 immense quantity of ammunition, shot, and shell, 
 which had been accumulated for the coming cam- 
 paign. With such contents the explosion could not 
 fail to be disastrous. In addition to General Pike, 
 Captain Dyon, Captain Fox, and 250 of the Ameri- 
 can soldiers were wounded or killed by the far flung 
 explosion, together with 40 of our own men who 
 had not retired in time. 
 
 That this explosion was intentional and done by 
 order of General Sheaffe there is no doubt. Major 
 Givens sent an orderly to warn his family, telling 
 them to seek safety as the Americans were victori- 
 ous, and the British being obliged to retreat, were 
 going to blow up the fort in the endeavour to reduce 
 for the enemy the fruits of their victory. This was a 
 policy quite in accord with that carried out by 
 Sheaffe during the remaining hours of the day. 
 
 That it was intended, as has been alleged, to blow 
 up the enemy as over a hidden mine, was not only 
 improbable but impossible. The magazine was not 
 inside the fort, and they could at no time march 
 above it. Sergeant Marshall, who set fire to the 
 fuse, said after the event that if he had thought that 
 Sheaffe wished it he could have given ten minutes 
 more port fire to the fuse. The intention was to 
 destroy the ammunition, and the unintentional 
 
28 THE BATTLE OF YORK 
 
 damage done to those who were in the neighbour- 
 hood was by the falling stones. 
 
 That the explosion was premature is beyond ques- 
 tion, as shown by a number of our own men having 
 been killed. Some have thrown doubt on this, and 
 General Dearborn, writing from York on the follow- 
 ing day, says: "The enemy set fire to their maga- 
 zine too soon; they destroyed many of their own 
 men." He also reports the number as being forty. 
 That would include, no doubt^ a number of the 
 wounded who had been carried in from the west- 
 ern battery, whose condition, as seen by a by- 
 stander, when being carried in through the gate 
 of the garrison is described as most terrible, 
 blackened and wounded by the explosion, particu- 
 larly one poor fellow who was brought in on i\ 
 wheelbarrow. Captain Loring, the aide-de-camp 
 of General Sheaffe, who was superintending the 
 retreat, was himself severely wounded and his 
 horse killed under him. The annals of the Loyal 
 and Patriotic Society record payments made to 
 relatives of those who were killed by this second 
 explosion. Both sides had suffered, for the effect 
 was terrific. " The water," says Ingersoll, " shook 
 as with an earthquake, and stones and rubbish were 
 thrown as far as the decks of the vessels near the 
 shore." Pike and Shepherd were both crushed by 
 falling stones. The militiaman was carried away 
 in the arms of his fellow soldier, Joseph Dennis, of 
 Birchwood Western, and died a few hours after- 
 wards. Pike, mortally crushed, was ])eing carried 
 to the shore, when hearing the shouts of tiie victors, 
 
THE BATTLE OF YORK 29 
 
 asked what they meant, and being told "The British 
 flag is down and the American flag is going up," 
 he (with a sigh) expressed his satisfaction. He was 
 taken on board the Madison, on which General 
 Dearborn had remained during the day, and, with 
 the British flag under his head, which he had begged 
 might be placed there. Pike died as he had wished, 
 " like Wolfe, asleep in the hour of victor}//' 
 
 Dearborn was severely censured for his inactivity. 
 If he had been at his post on shore perhaps more 
 energetic steps might at once have been taken to 
 follow up the retreating forces. Some ofiicers were 
 sent forward to demand a capitulation, but no 
 further advance was made and Sheaffe was enabled 
 to complete his plans. 
 
 After arranging to blow up the fort Sheaffe re- 
 tired along the Garrison Road, which followed the 
 shore toward the town. He halted his men in the 
 ravine of Russell's Creek, a part of which is now 
 seen as a part of the Lieutenant-Governor's garden 
 at the south of the present Government House, 
 destroyed the stores which were in the dockyard 
 which was on the shore just below it, and set fire to 
 the new warship, which was almost completed. 
 Leaving Colonel Chewett and Major Allan, of the 
 3rd York, who were residents of the town, to ar- 
 range with General Dearborn for the terms of 
 capitulation, Sheaffe withdrew all the regulars 
 along the Kingstone Road, meeting, a few miles east 
 of the Don, the two light Companies of the 8th 
 Regiment, which were following up the Grenadier 
 
30 THE BATTLE OP YORK 
 
 Companies on their way to Fort George. With 
 these he retired to Kingston. 
 
 It is to be remembered that there were so few 
 trained soldiers in the country that every regular 
 and his equipment was of exceeding value, and that 
 these same corps thus saved from being made pri- 
 soners did splendid service three weeks afterwards 
 at Sackett's Harbour, and in other engagements 
 during the next two years. 
 
 The terms made that evening were " that the resi- 
 dent Militia should surrender on parole, that all 
 public stores should be delivered up, and that all 
 private property should be guaranteed to the citi- 
 zens of the town." Notwithstanding this, some of 
 the private stores were next day plundered, the Par- 
 liament Buildings and the Court House burned, the 
 church robbed and the town library pillaged. 
 
 Four days later, after burning some of the houses, 
 some of the barracks and the Government House in 
 the Garrison, the Americans sailed away, taking 
 with them the Duke of Gloucester^ which, however, 
 was burned three w^eeks afterwards, by Sir James 
 Yeo, when he attacked the Americans in Sackett's 
 Harbour. 
 
 Here, then, at the old Fort Y'ork, is our sixth 
 memorial. 
 
 What more could men do than did these 600 
 heroes on our side that day against the 1,800 landed 
 to attack them? On watch all night to see where 
 the enemy would land, fighting every inch of the 
 way for all the miles from the Humber Bay to the 
 
THE BATTLE OF YORK 31 
 
 Garrison, stormed at by the hundred guns of the 
 fleet, fighting from early dawn for eight hours 
 against odds on land of three to one, battered by the 
 guns of the fleet, manned by 800 more men, then, 
 overborne, but not disgraced, with one man out 
 of every three lying wounded or dead on the battle- 
 field, they blew up their magazine, and the remnant 
 withdrew, to be, as they afterwards proved, ready 
 to fight another day. 
 
 Todleben, in 1856, did the same. After doing his 
 best in the defence of Sebastopol, he blew up his 
 magazine, sank his ships, marched out his men, and 
 left the fortress empty in the hands of the enemy. 
 Was he disgraced? Nay, it has been heralded as a 
 notable feat of arms. 
 
 So, too, with our defenders of York in 1813 — it 
 was a defeat yet it was a victory, for it inspired our 
 people to learn the duty of self-defence. 
 
 What of the noble 600 of Balaklava? They were 
 beaten, they retired, yet " when shall their glory 
 fade ?" 
 
 So, too, with the 600 of our Humber Bay and old 
 Fort York. Shall we forget their gallant deeds? 
 Shall we not rise from the despicable slumber which 
 has allowed this old fort of York to be a dumping- 
 ground for refuse, a standing monument of forget- 
 fulness. 
 
 After years of endeavour for its repair and pre- 
 servation we have at length arrived at a period of 
 repentance. The city of Toronto has been entrusted 
 with the care of these sacred precincts, and has 
 undertaken to fully restore the fort in accordance 
 
JAN 11 1915 
 
 32 THE BATTLE OF YORK 
 
 with these recorded plans of 1816, in which are con- 
 tained buildings and ramparts as on our eventful 
 day, and are to be maintained as a National His- 
 torical Memorial for ever. That this shall be amply 
 done will be expected by the Dominion and the 
 Province which have committed them to the city's 
 care. 
 
 The period of indecision is over, this old fort of 
 York, the Memorial of our country's defenders, will 
 soon be restored, beautified and made a i)lace of 
 commanding- interest. 
 
 May we not hope, too, that Memorials with appro- 
 priate and explanatory inscription may be placed 
 at the principal points along this memorable battle- 
 field of the Garrison Commons, our Upper Canada 
 field of Abraham. 
 
 Here shall they stand as rallying points for our 
 sons and daughters, teaching them the duty they 
 owe in defence of their native land and as vivid 
 memorials of the Brave Days of Old. 
 
 Barlow Cumberland. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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