Battle of Buffalo
Battle of Buffalo | |||||||
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Part of War of 1812 | |||||||
The port of Buffalo prior to the battle in 1813 | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United Kingdom | United States | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Gordon Drummond Phineas Riall | Amos Hall | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
965 British regulars[1] 50 Canadian militia 400 Natives | 2,011[2] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
31 killed 72 wounded 5 captured 4 missing[3][4] |
50 killed 52 wounded 11 wounded prisoners 56 captured[5][6] |
The Battle of Buffalo (also known as the Battle of Black Rock) took place during the War of 1812 on December 30, 1813, in the State of New York, near the Niagara River. The British forces drove off the American defenders and destroyed many buildings and ships. The operation was retaliation for American troops burning the Canadian village of Newark (present day Niagara-on-the-Lake).
Background
When
Riall's raid was eventually halted when the Americans set fire to a bridge over the Tonawanda Creek. Drummond and Riall intended further devastation, and Riall's troops returned to the Canadian side of the Niagara and marched south around Niagara Falls, carrying their boats, to launch an attack on the villages of Buffalo and Black Rock.
Opposing forces
Major General Riall commanded 370 of the 1st Battalion,
Available to the American area commander, Major General Amos Hall of the New York Militia, were 2,011 men, all of them volunteers or militia. Stationed at Buffalo were 129 cavalry under
Battle
Riall crossed the Niagara around midnight on December 29 and landed with most of his men some 2 miles (3.2 km) downstream of
As dawn broke, Hall directed "a very heavy fire of cannon and musketry" at Gordon's Royal Scots as they tried to land at Black Rock. Gordon was supported by the fire of a five-gun battery but several of his boats grounded and his regiment incurred substantial casualties before they could force their way ashore.[10] Riall now advanced with his main body against Hall's center, sending a detachment from his left wing to hit the American right flank.[11] Although the Americans fought with considerable obstinacy, according to Riall,[12] after half an hour of fighting the American right wing broke into a rout. In order to avoid being outflanked, Hall ordered a general retreat.[13] The British pursued all the way to Buffalo, two miles away.[10] Once in Buffalo, the British and Indians sacked it, burning down all but four of its buildings. Riall's troops also destroyed the navy yard and three armed schooners (the Chippewa, Ariel, Little Belt) and one sloop (the Trippe).
Riall's force then moved on to Black Rock, where once again, all but one building was razed to the ground, before going back over the Niagara to Canada.[14]
Casualties
The British casualty return gave 25 British regulars, 3 militiamen and 3 Native Americans killed; 63 regulars, 6 militiamen and 3 Native Americans wounded; and 9 regulars missing: a total of 31 killed, 72 wounded and 9 missing. Of these, 13 killed, 32 wounded and 6 missing were from the Royal Scots, who had endured a heavy cannonade while grounded in their boats.[3] The Americans took 5 prisoners.[4]
The official American casualty figures were reported as 50 killed and 52 wounded.[5] The dead included Lieutenant Colonel Boughton.[15] The Ontario Messenger of January 25, 1814, published a list of 67 Americans captured on December 30, 11 of whom were wounded. Lieutenant Colonel Chapin was among the prisoners.[6] Eight pieces of American artillery were captured.[16] One American civilian was killed by an Indian warrior.[17]
Aftermath
On January 22, 1814, Lieutenant General Sir George Prevost, British Commander-in-Chief in North America, issued a proclamation in which he expressed his regret that "the miseries inflicted upon the inhabitants of Newark" had necessitated such retaliation.[14]
Notes
- ^ a b c Cruikshank, p. 70
- ^ Cruikshank, p. 93
- ^ a b Cruikshank, p. 73
- ^ a b Cruikshank, p. 79
- ^ a b Eaton, p. 16
- ^ a b Cruikshank, p. 88
- ^ a b Quimby, p. 355
- ^ Quimby, p. 358
- ^ Cruikshank, p. 93 for units, strengths, commanders and dispositions; Index, pp. iii, iv, x, xi, xv and xvii for the respective Christian names of Boughton, Chapin, Granger, Hopkins, Mallory and McMahon
- ^ a b c Cruikshank, p. 71
- ^ a b Quimby, p. 359
- ISBN 0-306-80653-3.
- ^ Quimby, pp. 359–60
- ^ a b Quimby, p. 360
- ^ Cruikshank, p. 96
- ^ Cruikshank, p. 74
- ^ "Why Washington Went up in Flames: The Burning of Newark (Niagara-on-the-lake), Upper Canada December 1813". www.warof1812.ca. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
References
- ISBN 0-405-02838-5.
- Eaton, Joseph H. (2000). Returns of Killed and Wounded in Battles or Engagements with Indians and British and Mexican Troops, 1790–1848, Compiled by Lt. Col J. H. Eaton (Eaton's Compilation). Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration Microfilm Publications.
- Quimby, Robert S. (1997). The U.S. Army in the War of 1812: An Operational and Command Study. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press. ISBN 0-87013-441-8.