"The War of 1812 On The Niagara River" Topic

"Hundreds of thousands of tourists visit Niagara Falls each year to view this magnificent natural wonder. Yet two hundred years ago, the Niagara region was the scene of fierce battles and desperate skirmishes during America's second war with Great Britain. The thirty-seven mile long waterway that connects Lake Erie with Lake Ontario is more accurately a strait rather than a river. In 1812, it marked the border between the province of Upper Canada (present day Ontario) and the state of New York. Flowing north from Lake Erie, the river has low banks and is easily crossable by boat. Once past the mouth of the Chippewa River however, the rapids lead to the falls. Niagara Falls is the geological result of water flow over the Niagara Escarpment. This 180-foot tall ledge extends across the Niagara Peninsula in Canada and well into New York. Over the millennia, the river carved a steep-sided gorge between the falls and the lip of the escarpment. As the river emerges from the gorge, it flows between high banks that are an impediment to cross-river traffic. In 1812, the river valley was dotted with small farms and settlements. These Canadian settlers were largely refugees displaced by the American Revolution, sprinkled with a number of newcomers who were born in the United States and immigrated to Canada for cheap land.

Daniel Tompkins, governor of New York, gave command of the invasion force that was to cross the Niagara to Stephen van Rensselaer. Van Rensselaer was a major general in the militia and the richest man in the state, but he had no military experience. He selected a cousin, Lieutenant Colonel Solomon van Rensselaer, to serve as his aide. Solomon had fought and was seriously wounded during Major General Anthony Wayne's Fallen Timbers campaign in 1794. He brought badly needed order to the untrained, ill-supplied regiments of militiamen straggling into camp near Lewiston. The only senior regular officer present was Brigadier General Alexander Smyth who commanded a brigade of raw recruits at Buffalo. Smyth, however, disgracefully refused to cooperate with van Rensselaer and his militiamen…"

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