The Siege Of Fort Erie

Author : Ernest Alexander Cruikshank
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781331920786
Total Pages : 54 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (27 download)

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Download or read book The Siege of Fort Erie written by Ernest Alexander Cruikshank and published by . This book was released on 2015-07-21 with total page 54 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from The Siege of Fort Erie: August 1st September 23rd, 1814 Between sunset and midnight on July 25th, 1814, the stubbornly contested battle of Lundy's Lane was fought within view of the Falls of Niagara, between an American army, under Major-General Jacob Brown, consisting of about 4000 men, and a British division of inferior force, under Lieutenant-General Sir Gordon Drummond, which had advanced during the day in two columns from Fort George and the Twelve Mile Creek to occupy the junction of the roads where the action took place. The declared intention of the American commander was to force his way by the shortest route to Burlington Heights, where he expected to be met by the American squadron from Sackett's Harbor conveying siege artillery and a reinforcement of infantry. The British General wished to avoid an engagement until he could bring up the whole of his available field force but refused to yield the favorable position he had secured. Both armies lost heavily in this action, and when it ended the survivors had literally fought until they were able to fight no longer. Brigadier-General E. W. Ripley, who had by that time succeeded to the command of the American troops in consequence of the disablement of two senior officers, Major-Generals Brown and Scott, by severe wounds, found his forces so much scattered and disorganized that he gave orders for them to assemble and retire to their camp behind the Chippawa, about three miles distant, leaving his adversary in possession of the field and a considerable number of his dead and wounded. Such a movement on the part of an invading army is necessarily a confession of defeat, and although Ripley succeeded in removing most of his artillery without molestation and left few unwounded prisoners behind him he decided next morning that it would be unwise to renew the contest, and after a faint demonstration against the British position again retired behind the Chippawa and destroyed the bridge. Generals Brown and Scott and other wounded officers were sent across the Niagara and some heavy baggage was thrown into the river to facilitate the retreat to Fort Erie, which was begun shortly after noon and continued until midnight without molestation, the rearguard breaking down all the bridges along the road to prevent pursuit. When this army had entered Canada three weeks before it was officially reported to consist of 5,000 men. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.