Siege of Fort Erie

Siege of Fort Erie
Conflict	War of 1812
Date	August 4-November 5, 1814
Place	Fort Erie, Ontario
Result	U.S. victory
Campaign	Niagara campaign of 1814
Combatants United Kingdom United States Commanders Sir Gordon Drummond Edmund Gaines Jacob Brown Strength 2,200 3,000 Casualties 966 killed, wounded, captured & 540 missing for entire siege 630 for entire siege Battle before: Battle of Lundy's Lane Battle after: Battle of Cook's Mill

The Siege of Fort Erie was the last engagement between British and American forces during the Niagara campaign of 1814, in which the Americans made a successfull defense of the fort against the British before abandoning it on November 5, 1814.

Contents

1 Background 2 The Siege 2.1 British Assault 2.2 American Sortie 3 Results 4 References

Background

After the bloody Battle of Lundy's Lane, the American forces now under the command of Eleazer Ripley (Brown had been severely wounded at Lundy's Lane), withdrew to their base at Fort Erie. Once the American army reached the fort, command was given to Brigadier General Edmund Gaines . The British under the command of Gordon Drummond followed slowly behind but reached the fort on August 4. The Americans had captured Fort Erie on July 3, 1814 and had made significant improvements to the defenses since then.

The Siege

British Assault

On August 13 Drummond opened fire on the fort. The bombardment was ineffective against the fort's walls. However Drummund still launched a 3-pronged attack on August 15. The first attack, led by Lt. Col. Victor Fisher was to flank the south end of the defenses. The second attack, led by Drummond's nepehw Lt. Col. William Drummond, was to attack in the center against the fort. The third attack, led by Lt. Col. Hercules Scott, was to attack the the north end of the defenses. The first attack was met with heavy fire from the defenders and the attacker broke and fled. Lieutenant Colonel Scott was killed early on in his attack and his troops became disorganized and made no headway. Lieutenant Colonel Drummond's attack actually breached the fort's defenses and about 100 men captured a battery and turned the guns on the defenders. However a counterattack drove them from the guns. The British clung on to their breach. When an ammunition chest caught fire and Lt. Col. Drummond was killed the British retreated. General Drummond called off the attack after sustaining 366 casualties in this engagement alone. Although this was a serious defeat, Drummond did not raise the siege.

American Sortie

In September General Jacob Brown having recovered from his wounds, returned to command. On September 17 Brown launched an attack against Drummond's siege lines. The Americans destroyed two of Drummond's four siege batteries and inflicted 600 casualties on the British. The siege was not going well for the British at all by this point and continuous rain made matters even worse. Drummond lifted the siege and retreated to Chippewa Creek where he in turn established a defensive line.

Results

General George Izard arrived from Plattsburg, New York and being senoir officer, assumed command of the American forces. Brown, being more aggressive wished to attack the British with teh combined US forces. Izard chose not to attack the British. Instead after a sortie at Cook's Mill he decided to abandon the fort and on November 5 the Americans set mines and demolished it. When the British returned to the site, they chose not to rebuild the fort. The Niagara campaign was over and so were the invasions of Canada. The siege had been a disaster for the British militarily and personally for Gordon Drummond.

References

• http://members.tripod.com/~war1812/allbat.html
• http://www.galafilm.com/1812/e/locations/niagara.html