Battle of Lundy's Lane
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Lundy's Lane (also known as the Battle of Niagara Falls) was a battle of the Anglo-American War of 1812
, which took place on 25 July 1814, in present-day Niagara Falls, Ontario
. It was one of the bloodiest battles of the war, and one of the deadliest battles ever fought on Canadian soil.
launched an attack across the Niagara River
near its source on Lake Erie
. His force quickly captured
the British position at Fort Erie
and then advanced north. Two days later one of his two brigades of regular U.S. Infantry under Brigadier General Winfield Scott
defeated a British force commanded by Major General Phineas Riall
at the Battle of Chippawa
.
A few days after the battle Brown outflanked
the British defences along the Chippawa River
and the British fell back to Fort George
near the mouth of the Niagara on Lake Ontario
. Brown lacked the necessary troops and heavy artillery to attack this position. At the time a British naval squadron controlled the lake. Commodore Isaac Chauncey
, commander of the American ships based at Sackett's Harbor, New York, was waiting for new frigates and heavily-armed brigs to be completed before he could challenge the British squadron. When these were finally ready to sail, the American squadron was further delayed in port when Chauncey fell ill. As a result no reinforcements or heavy guns could be sent to Brown while the British were able to move several units across the lake from York to reinforce Fort George.
For most of July Brown's army occupied Queenston
a few miles south of Fort George. In this forward position they were harassed by Canadian militia and Indians. On 24 July Brown fell back to the Chippawa River intending to secure his supplies before advancing west to Burlington
. No sooner than Brown had retired, British light infantry and militia under Major General Riall advanced to Lundy's Lane 4 miles (6.4 km) north of the Chippawa to allow light troops to maintain contact with the American main force.
, Lieutenant General Gordon Drummond
, arrived in Fort George to take personal command on the Niagara peninsula. He immediately ordered a force under Lieutenant Colonel John Tucker to advance south from Fort Niagara
(which the British had captured in December 1813) along the east side of the Niagara River, hoping this would force Brown to evacuate the west bank. Instead, Brown ordered an advance north, intending in turn to force the British to recall Tucker's column to protect Fort George. The Americans apparently did not know that the British held Lundy's Lane in strength.
As soon as Riall knew the Americans were advancing, he ordered his troops to fall back to Fort George and ordered another column under Colonel Hercules Scott to move from St. David's to Queenston to cover his withdrawal, rather than advance to his support. These orders were countermanded by Drummond, who had force-marched a detachment of reinforcements to Lundy's Lane from Fort George. The British were still reoccupying their positions when the first American units came into view, at about 6:00 pm.
and a Congreve rocket
detachment) was massed in a cemetery at the highest point of the battlefield.
The American 1st Brigade of regulars under Winfield Scott emerged in the late afternoon from a forest into an open field and were badly mauled by the British artillery. Scott sent the 25th U.S. Infantry, commanded by Major Thomas Jesup
, to outflank the British left. The 25th found a disused track leading to a landing stage on the river, and used it to pass round the British flank. They caught the British and Canadian units there (the light company of the 1st Battalion of the 8th (King's) Regiment
and the Upper Canada Incorporated Militia Battalion) while they were redeploying and unaware of the American presence, and drove them back in confusion. The British and Canadians rallied, but had been driven off the Portage Road. Jesup sent Captain Ketchum's light infantry company to secure the junction of Lundy's Lane and the Portage Road. Ketchum's company captured large numbers of wounded and messengers, including Major General Riall who had been wounded in one arm and was riding to the rear. Most of the prisoners escaped when Ketchum himself, having briefly rejoined Jesup, ran into an enemy unit while trying to return to the main body of the American army, although Riall and militia cavalry leader Captain William Hamilton Merritt
remained prisoners.
Jesup's action and the steadiness of Scott's brigade nevertheless persuaded Drummond to withdraw his centre to maintain alignment with his left flank, and also pull back the Glengarry Light Infantry, who had been harassing Scott's own left flank. The withdrawal of Drummond's centre left the artillery exposed in front of the infantry.
and a brigade of volunteers from the militia under Brigadier General Peter B. Porter). As Ripley and Porter relieved Scott's brigade, Brown ordered the 21st U.S. Infantry
under Lieutenant Colonel James Miller
to capture the British guns. Miller famously responded, "I'll try, Sir".
While the British were distracted by another attack by the 1st U.S. Infantry on their right, Miller's troops deployed within a few yards of the British artillery. They fired a volley of musket
ry which killed most of the gunners and followed up with a bayonet
charge which captured the guns and drove the British centre from the hill. The British infantry immediately behind the guns (the 2/89th) tried to counter-attack, but were driven back by Miller and Ripley.
Meanwhile, the British column under Colonel Hercules Scott was arriving on the field, already tired from its unnecessary diversion via Queenston. Unaware of the situation, they blundered into Ripley's brigade and were also driven back in disorder, losing their own three 6-pounder guns. These were recovered by a charge by the light company of the 41st Foot, but were either abandoned again or remained in British hands but could not be brought into action.
While the Americans tried to deploy their own artillery among the captured British guns, Drummond (who had been wounded in the neck) reorganized his troops and mounted a determined attempt to retake his own cannon. There was no subtlety; Drummond merely launched an attack in line, without attempting to use his many light infantry to harass or disorder the American line, or to locate any weak points in it. The attack was beaten back after a short-range musketry duel over the abandoned guns, in which both sides suffered heavy casualties. The Glengarry Light Infantry, who had once again begun to harass the American left flank, were mistaken for Americans by other British units and forced to withdraw after suffering casualties from British fire.
Undeterred by his first failure, Drummond launched a second attack, using the same methods and formation. Although some American units wavered, they were rallied by Ripley and stood their ground. While the combat was taking place, Winfield Scott led his depleted brigade (which had been reorganized into a single ad-hoc battalion under Major Henry Leavenworth
) in an unauthorized attack against Drummond's centre. Scott's brigade was engaged both by the British and by units of Ripley's brigade, who were not aware of the identity of the troops at which they were shooting. Drummond's line was driven back but Scott's men broke in disorder and retreated, before rallying on the American left. Scott rode off to join Jesup's regiment, still out on the right flank, but was severely wounded shortly afterwards.
Shortly before midnight, Drummond launched a third counter-attack, apparently using every man he could find, although by this time the British line consisted of mixed-up detachments and companies, rather than organised regiments and battalions. The fighting over the artillery was even closer than before, with bayonets being used at one point, but again the exhausted British fell back.
The American artillerymen had suffered severely during the fighting and Hindman had difficulty finding sufficient draught horses to get all his guns away. One American 6-pounder gun had been lost earlier during the close-range fighting when its drivers had been hit by musket fire and the horses drawing it had bolted into the British lines. Hindman also had to abandon a howitzer with a broken carriage. However, the Americans were able to drag away one captured 6-pounder gun which had earlier been pushed to the bottom of the high ground in the centre of the former British position. Hindman later found some more horses and sent a team back to recover one of the prized British 24-pounder guns. The team was captured by British parties who were apparently wandering around the battlefield.
The original American official casualty return, dated 30 July 1814, gave 171 dead, 572 wounded and 117 missing. A slightly later version gave the same number of killed and wounded but only 110 missing. Donald Graves says, "British records state that four officers and 75 Americans of other ranks captured at Lundy's Lane were imprisoned at Quebec in the autumn of 1814. The remainder of the missing were probably the wounded or dead left on the field after Ripley withdrew". Three officers of the 22nd U.S. Regiment of Infantry; Lieutenants William Sturgis, John D. Kehr and Robert M. Davidson, who appear on the casualty list as "missing" and "supposed to be killed" were later confirmed as having been killed on 25 July. This gives a revised American loss of 174 killed, 572 wounded, 79 captured and 28 missing. Graves speculates that the discrepancies in the proportions of killed and wounded men between British and American casualties may be accounted for by the Americans not collating their casualty returns until five days after the battle, when some of those originally listed as missing were confirmed to have been killed, and some severely wounded men had died of their wounds.
, were horrified at the carnage they had witnessed at Lundy's Lane. Drummond reported, "Of so determined a Character were[the American] attacks directed against our guns that our Artillery Men were bayonetted by the enemy in the Act of loading, and the muzzles of the Enemy's Guns were advanced within a few Yards of ours". The battle confirmed that the American regular forces had evolved into a highly professional army. Scott is widely credited for this progress, having modelled and trained his troops using French Revolutionary
drills and exercises, although not all the American units present at Lundy's Lane had benefitted from his personal training.
Evidence compiled by Donald Graves
, a Canadian historian employed at the Directorate of History, Department of National Defence Canada, argues that General Drummond failed to use skirmish pickets to protect his guns, which were consequently captured by the Americans. Drummond also showed little tactical finesse during his counter-attacks, not using his light infantry to their best advantage and mounting only straightforward frontal attacks. American historian John R. Elting suggests that if Drummond had instead concentrated on the vulnerable American left flank, he might have won a decisive victory. (Drummond had much administrative experience, but had previously seen action only in the abortive campaign in Flanders in 1794 as a comparatively junior officer, and in the Egyptian campaign in 1801 as commander of a battalion.)
In respect to the effect of the battle on the War, the British won a strategic victory, since the Americans on the Niagara had suffered so many casualties that they were now badly outnumbered, and were forced to retire to Fort Erie. Richard V. Barbuto says, "On 26 July, Brown's plan to advance on Burlington Heights was irretrievably shattered... Drummond had secured the forts at the northern end of the Niagara, and he had blunted an American advance. Although there was still a lot of fight in both forces, the balance of combat power on the Niagara Peninsula had swung from the invaders to the defenders". However, Drummond followed up so slowly that the Americans had time to reorganise and to prepare Fort Erie for defence. During the ensuing Siege of Fort Erie
, the British suffered very heavy casualties from a disastrous failed storming attempt and from sickness and shortages of supplies, and were forced to raise the siege, thus throwing away any advantage they may have gained as a result of the Battle of Lundy's Lane.
The site of the battle is now a residential and commercial area of Niagara Falls, Ontario. Part of the battlefield site was preserved next to the Drummond Hill Cemetery on Lundy's Lane east of Drummond Road. Other memorials added to the site include:
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
, which took place on 25 July 1814, in present-day Niagara Falls, Ontario
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Niagara Falls is a Canadian city on the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario. The municipality was incorporated on June 12, 1903...
. It was one of the bloodiest battles of the war, and one of the deadliest battles ever fought on Canadian soil.
Background
On 3 July 1814 an American army under Major General Jacob BrownJacob Brown
Jacob Jennings Brown was an American army officer in the War of 1812. His successes on the northern border during that war made him a hero. In 1821 he was appointed commanding general of the U.S. Army and held that post until his death.-Early life:Born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Jacob Jennings...
launched an attack across the Niagara River
Niagara River
The Niagara River flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the Province of Ontario in Canada and New York State in the United States. There are differing theories as to the origin of the name of the river...
near its source on Lake Erie
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
. His force quickly captured
Capture of Fort Erie
The Capture of Fort Erie by American forces in 1814 was an incident in the War of 1812 between the United Kingdom and the United States. The British garrison was outnumbered but surrendered prematurely, in the view of British commanders.-Background:...
the British position at Fort Erie
Fort Erie, Ontario
Fort Erie is a town on the Niagara River in the Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly across the river from Buffalo, New York....
and then advanced north. Two days later one of his two brigades of regular U.S. Infantry under Brigadier General Winfield Scott
Winfield Scott
Winfield Scott was a United States Army general, and unsuccessful presidential candidate of the Whig Party in 1852....
defeated a British force commanded by Major General Phineas Riall
Phineas Riall
Sir Phineas Riall, KCH was a British army officer, who fought in the War of 1812. was born in Clonmel, Ireland into a wealthy Protestant landowning family, the third son of Phineas Riall of Heywood, Co. Tipperary, whose father had founded the Riall Bank of Clonmel, and Catherine Caldwell of Dublin...
at the Battle of Chippawa
Battle of Chippawa
The Battle of Chippawa was a victory for the United States Army in the War of 1812, during an invasion of Upper Canada along the Niagara River on July 5, 1814.-Background:...
.
A few days after the battle Brown outflanked
Flanking maneuver
In military tactics, a flanking maneuver, also called a flank attack, is an attack on the sides of an opposing force. If a flanking maneuver succeeds, the opposing force would be surrounded from two or more directions, which significantly reduces the maneuverability of the outflanked force and its...
the British defences along the Chippawa River
Welland River
The Welland River is a river in the Niagara Region of southern Ontario which flows from its headwaters south of Hamilton, Ontario to empty into the Niagara River near the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario. It drains an area of 880 km²....
and the British fell back to Fort George
Fort George, Ontario
Fort George National Historic Site is a historic military structure at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, that was the scene of several battles during the War of 1812...
near the mouth of the Niagara on Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...
. Brown lacked the necessary troops and heavy artillery to attack this position. At the time a British naval squadron controlled the lake. Commodore Isaac Chauncey
Isaac Chauncey
Isaac Chauncey was an officer in the United States Navy.-Biography:Chauncey, born in Black Rock, Connecticut, 20 February 1779, was appointed a Lieutenant in the Navy from 17 September 1798...
, commander of the American ships based at Sackett's Harbor, New York, was waiting for new frigates and heavily-armed brigs to be completed before he could challenge the British squadron. When these were finally ready to sail, the American squadron was further delayed in port when Chauncey fell ill. As a result no reinforcements or heavy guns could be sent to Brown while the British were able to move several units across the lake from York to reinforce Fort George.
For most of July Brown's army occupied Queenston
Queenston, Ontario
Queenston is located 5 km north of Niagara Falls, Ontario in the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake. The community is bordered by Highway 405 and the Niagara River; its location on the Niagara Escarpment led to the establishment of the now-defunct Queenston Quarry in the area...
a few miles south of Fort George. In this forward position they were harassed by Canadian militia and Indians. On 24 July Brown fell back to the Chippawa River intending to secure his supplies before advancing west to Burlington
Burlington, Ontario
Burlington , is a city located in Halton Region at the western end of Lake Ontario. Burlington is part of the Greater Toronto Area, and is also included in the Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area. Physically, Burlington lies between the north shore of Lake Ontario and the Niagara Escarpment...
. No sooner than Brown had retired, British light infantry and militia under Major General Riall advanced to Lundy's Lane 4 miles (6.4 km) north of the Chippawa to allow light troops to maintain contact with the American main force.
Preliminary movements
Early on 25 July, the British Lieutenant Governor of Upper CanadaUpper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
, Lieutenant General Gordon Drummond
Gordon Drummond
Sir Gordon Drummond, GCB was the first Canadian-born officer to command the military and the civil government of Canada...
, arrived in Fort George to take personal command on the Niagara peninsula. He immediately ordered a force under Lieutenant Colonel John Tucker to advance south from Fort Niagara
Fort Niagara
Fort Niagara is a fortification originally built to protect the interests of New France in North America. It is located near Youngstown, New York, on the eastern bank of the Niagara River at its mouth, on Lake Ontario.-Origin:...
(which the British had captured in December 1813) along the east side of the Niagara River, hoping this would force Brown to evacuate the west bank. Instead, Brown ordered an advance north, intending in turn to force the British to recall Tucker's column to protect Fort George. The Americans apparently did not know that the British held Lundy's Lane in strength.
As soon as Riall knew the Americans were advancing, he ordered his troops to fall back to Fort George and ordered another column under Colonel Hercules Scott to move from St. David's to Queenston to cover his withdrawal, rather than advance to his support. These orders were countermanded by Drummond, who had force-marched a detachment of reinforcements to Lundy's Lane from Fort George. The British were still reoccupying their positions when the first American units came into view, at about 6:00 pm.
Scott's attack
Lundy's Lane was a spur from the main portage road alongside the Niagara River. It ran along the summit of some rising ground (about 25 feet higher than the surrounding area) and therefore commanded good views of the area. The British artillery (two 24-pounder and two 6-pounder guns, one 5.5-inch howitzerHowitzer
A howitzer is a type of artillery piece characterized by a relatively short barrel and the use of comparatively small propellant charges to propel projectiles at relatively high trajectories, with a steep angle of descent...
and a Congreve rocket
Congreve rocket
The Congreve Rocket was a British military weapon designed and developed by Sir William Congreve in 1804.The rocket was developed by the British Royal Arsenal following the experiences of the Second, Third and Fourth Mysore Wars. The wars fought between the British East India Company and the...
detachment) was massed in a cemetery at the highest point of the battlefield.
The American 1st Brigade of regulars under Winfield Scott emerged in the late afternoon from a forest into an open field and were badly mauled by the British artillery. Scott sent the 25th U.S. Infantry, commanded by Major Thomas Jesup
Thomas Jesup
Brigadier General Thomas Sidney Jesup, USA was an American military officer known as the "Father of the Modern Quartermaster Corps". He was born in Berkeley County, West Virginia. He began his military career in 1808, and served in the War of 1812, seeing action in the battles of Chippewa and...
, to outflank the British left. The 25th found a disused track leading to a landing stage on the river, and used it to pass round the British flank. They caught the British and Canadian units there (the light company of the 1st Battalion of the 8th (King's) Regiment
8th (The King's) Regiment of Foot
The 8th Regiment of Foot, also referred to diminutively as the 8th Foot and the King's, was an infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1685 and retitled the King's on 1 July 1881....
and the Upper Canada Incorporated Militia Battalion) while they were redeploying and unaware of the American presence, and drove them back in confusion. The British and Canadians rallied, but had been driven off the Portage Road. Jesup sent Captain Ketchum's light infantry company to secure the junction of Lundy's Lane and the Portage Road. Ketchum's company captured large numbers of wounded and messengers, including Major General Riall who had been wounded in one arm and was riding to the rear. Most of the prisoners escaped when Ketchum himself, having briefly rejoined Jesup, ran into an enemy unit while trying to return to the main body of the American army, although Riall and militia cavalry leader Captain William Hamilton Merritt
William Hamilton Merritt
William Hamilton Merritt was an influential figure in the Niagara Peninsula of Upper Canada in early 19th century and one of the fathers of the Welland Canal....
remained prisoners.
Jesup's action and the steadiness of Scott's brigade nevertheless persuaded Drummond to withdraw his centre to maintain alignment with his left flank, and also pull back the Glengarry Light Infantry, who had been harassing Scott's own left flank. The withdrawal of Drummond's centre left the artillery exposed in front of the infantry.
Brown's attack
As night fell, Scott's brigade had suffered heavy casualties, but Brown arrived with the American main body (the 2nd Brigade of regulars under Brigadier General Eleazer Wheelock RipleyEleazer Wheelock Ripley
Eleazer Wheelock Ripley , was a graduate of Dartmouth College, a distinguished Brigadier General in the War of 1812, and a U. S. Representative from Louisiana from 1835 until 1839....
and a brigade of volunteers from the militia under Brigadier General Peter B. Porter). As Ripley and Porter relieved Scott's brigade, Brown ordered the 21st U.S. Infantry
5th Infantry Regiment (United States)
The 5th Infantry Regiment is the third-oldest infantry regiment of the United States Army, tracing its origins to 1808...
under Lieutenant Colonel James Miller
James Miller (general)
James Miller was a member of the United States House of Representatives from New Hampshire, the first Governor of Arkansas Territory, and a Brigadier General in the United States Army during the War of 1812....
to capture the British guns. Miller famously responded, "I'll try, Sir".
While the British were distracted by another attack by the 1st U.S. Infantry on their right, Miller's troops deployed within a few yards of the British artillery. They fired a volley of musket
Musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded, smooth bore long gun, fired from the shoulder. Muskets were designed for use by infantry. A soldier armed with a musket had the designation musketman or musketeer....
ry which killed most of the gunners and followed up with a bayonet
Bayonet
A bayonet is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit in, on, over or underneath the muzzle of a rifle, musket or similar weapon, effectively turning the gun into a spear...
charge which captured the guns and drove the British centre from the hill. The British infantry immediately behind the guns (the 2/89th) tried to counter-attack, but were driven back by Miller and Ripley.
Meanwhile, the British column under Colonel Hercules Scott was arriving on the field, already tired from its unnecessary diversion via Queenston. Unaware of the situation, they blundered into Ripley's brigade and were also driven back in disorder, losing their own three 6-pounder guns. These were recovered by a charge by the light company of the 41st Foot, but were either abandoned again or remained in British hands but could not be brought into action.
Drummond's counter-attack
Undeterred by his first failure, Drummond launched a second attack, using the same methods and formation. Although some American units wavered, they were rallied by Ripley and stood their ground. While the combat was taking place, Winfield Scott led his depleted brigade (which had been reorganized into a single ad-hoc battalion under Major Henry Leavenworth
Henry Leavenworth
Henry Leavenworth was an American soldier active in the War of 1812 and early military expeditions against the Plains Indians...
) in an unauthorized attack against Drummond's centre. Scott's brigade was engaged both by the British and by units of Ripley's brigade, who were not aware of the identity of the troops at which they were shooting. Drummond's line was driven back but Scott's men broke in disorder and retreated, before rallying on the American left. Scott rode off to join Jesup's regiment, still out on the right flank, but was severely wounded shortly afterwards.
Shortly before midnight, Drummond launched a third counter-attack, apparently using every man he could find, although by this time the British line consisted of mixed-up detachments and companies, rather than organised regiments and battalions. The fighting over the artillery was even closer than before, with bayonets being used at one point, but again the exhausted British fell back.
End of the battle
By midnight both sides were spent. On the American side only 700 men were still standing in the line. Winfield Scott and Jacob Brown were both severely wounded. Brown would soon recover but Scott's injury removed him from the campaign. With supplies and water short, Brown ordered a retreat. Porter and Lieutenant Colonel Jacob Hindman (Brown's artillery commander) protested but complied. Ripley was apparently left unaware of Brown's order until he realised that Hindman's artillery had been withdrawn. Although urged by Porter to maintain his position, he also withdrew. The British still had 1,400 men on the field but they were in no condition to interfere with the American withdrawal. Drummond had ordered some units to hold the Portage Road and left some light infantry outposts near the Americans, but had withdrawn the remainder a short distance west along Lundy's Lane.The American artillerymen had suffered severely during the fighting and Hindman had difficulty finding sufficient draught horses to get all his guns away. One American 6-pounder gun had been lost earlier during the close-range fighting when its drivers had been hit by musket fire and the horses drawing it had bolted into the British lines. Hindman also had to abandon a howitzer with a broken carriage. However, the Americans were able to drag away one captured 6-pounder gun which had earlier been pushed to the bottom of the high ground in the centre of the former British position. Hindman later found some more horses and sent a team back to recover one of the prized British 24-pounder guns. The team was captured by British parties who were apparently wandering around the battlefield.
Aftermath
In the early hours of the morning of 26 July, Brown ordered Ripley to recover the abandoned British guns the next day. Reinforcing his exhausted men with detachments which had been left at Chippawa, Ripley moved out at daybreak with 1,200 soldiers but found that Drummond had reoccupied the battlefield with 2,200 men. Ripley withdrew, unmolested. The American army fell back to Fort Erie, first deliberately destroying the old British fortifications along the Chippawa River and burning the bridges behind them. Because they were short of transport, they had to abandon or destroy much equipment and supplies to make room for the wounded on the available wagons. Drummond was later to claim from this that the Americans had retreated in disorder. In fact, after burying some of the British and Canadian dead on the battlefield and burning many American corpses in large funeral pyres, the British had themselves withdrawn to Queenston until Drummond received reinforcements.Casualties
The British official casualty return had 84 killed, 559 wounded, 42 captured and 193 missing. The Americans captured 19 British officers and 150 other ranks, giving a revised British casualty total of 84 killed, 559 wounded, 169 captured and 55 missing.The original American official casualty return, dated 30 July 1814, gave 171 dead, 572 wounded and 117 missing. A slightly later version gave the same number of killed and wounded but only 110 missing. Donald Graves says, "British records state that four officers and 75 Americans of other ranks captured at Lundy's Lane were imprisoned at Quebec in the autumn of 1814. The remainder of the missing were probably the wounded or dead left on the field after Ripley withdrew". Three officers of the 22nd U.S. Regiment of Infantry; Lieutenants William Sturgis, John D. Kehr and Robert M. Davidson, who appear on the casualty list as "missing" and "supposed to be killed" were later confirmed as having been killed on 25 July. This gives a revised American loss of 174 killed, 572 wounded, 79 captured and 28 missing. Graves speculates that the discrepancies in the proportions of killed and wounded men between British and American casualties may be accounted for by the Americans not collating their casualty returns until five days after the battle, when some of those originally listed as missing were confirmed to have been killed, and some severely wounded men had died of their wounds.
Outcome and analysis
There had been much fighting at close quarters. Veteran British officers, who had fought against French armies in the Peninsular WarPeninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
, were horrified at the carnage they had witnessed at Lundy's Lane. Drummond reported, "Of so determined a Character were
French Revolutionary Army
The French Revolutionary Army is the term used to refer to the military of France during the period between the fall of the ancien regime under Louis XVI in 1792 and the formation of the First French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte in 1804. These armies were characterised by their revolutionary...
drills and exercises, although not all the American units present at Lundy's Lane had benefitted from his personal training.
Evidence compiled by Donald Graves
Donald Graves
Donald Graves is a writer and historian specializing in Canadian military history.Educated at University of Saskatchewan, he has worked as a historian for the National Historic Sites Service, the National Archives of Canada and the Canadian Forces. He is currently the Managing Director of the...
, a Canadian historian employed at the Directorate of History, Department of National Defence Canada, argues that General Drummond failed to use skirmish pickets to protect his guns, which were consequently captured by the Americans. Drummond also showed little tactical finesse during his counter-attacks, not using his light infantry to their best advantage and mounting only straightforward frontal attacks. American historian John R. Elting suggests that if Drummond had instead concentrated on the vulnerable American left flank, he might have won a decisive victory. (Drummond had much administrative experience, but had previously seen action only in the abortive campaign in Flanders in 1794 as a comparatively junior officer, and in the Egyptian campaign in 1801 as commander of a battalion.)
In respect to the effect of the battle on the War, the British won a strategic victory, since the Americans on the Niagara had suffered so many casualties that they were now badly outnumbered, and were forced to retire to Fort Erie. Richard V. Barbuto says, "On 26 July, Brown's plan to advance on Burlington Heights was irretrievably shattered... Drummond had secured the forts at the northern end of the Niagara, and he had blunted an American advance. Although there was still a lot of fight in both forces, the balance of combat power on the Niagara Peninsula had swung from the invaders to the defenders". However, Drummond followed up so slowly that the Americans had time to reorganise and to prepare Fort Erie for defence. During the ensuing Siege of Fort Erie
Siege of Fort Erie
The Siege of Fort Erie was one of the last and most protracted engagements between British and American forces during the Niagara campaign of the American War of 1812...
, the British suffered very heavy casualties from a disastrous failed storming attempt and from sickness and shortages of supplies, and were forced to raise the siege, thus throwing away any advantage they may have gained as a result of the Battle of Lundy's Lane.
Battlefield and memorials
The site was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1937.The site of the battle is now a residential and commercial area of Niagara Falls, Ontario. Part of the battlefield site was preserved next to the Drummond Hill Cemetery on Lundy's Lane east of Drummond Road. Other memorials added to the site include:
- Soldier’s Monument — created by the Canadian Parliament and unveiled by Lundy’s Lane Historical Society in 1895
- Commemorative Wall — added 2004
- Laura Secord Monument — Laura SecordLaura SecordLaura Ingersoll Secord was a Canadian heroine of the War of 1812. She is known for warning British forces of an impending American attack that led to the British victory at the Battle of Beaver Dams.-Early life:...
is buried at the Drummond Hill Cemetery
Legacy
- James Miller's response, "I'll try, Sir", to Brown's order to capture the British guns is now the motto of the 5th U.S. Infantry5th Infantry Regiment (United States)The 5th Infantry Regiment is the third-oldest infantry regiment of the United States Army, tracing its origins to 1808...
, into which the 21st were merged in 1815 when CongressUnited States CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
reduced the United States Army to a smaller peacetime establishment.
- In 1908, Canadian poet Duncan Campbell ScottDuncan Campbell ScottDuncan Campbell Scott was a Canadian poet and prose writer. With Charles G.D. Roberts, Bliss Carman, and Archibald Lampman, he is classed as one of Canada's Confederation Poets....
wrote a poem, "The Battle of Lundy's Lane," which won a contest sponsored by the Toronto GlobeThe Globe (Toronto newspaper)The Globe was a newspaper in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, founded in 1844 by George Brown as a Reform voice. It merged with The Mail and Empire in 1936 to form The Globe and Mail.-History:...
. The poem was reprinted in his 1916 collection, Lundy's Lane and Other Poems.
- Lundy's Lane is mentioned in the unofficial Canadian patriotic anthem, "The Maple Leaf ForeverThe Maple Leaf Forever"The Maple Leaf Forever" is a Canadian song written by Alexander Muir in 1867, the year of Canada's Confederation. He wrote the work after serving with The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada in the Battle of Ridgeway against the Fenians in 1866....
" :
- At Queenston HeightsQueenston Heightsthumb|Brock's Monument|250px|Brock's Monument at Queenston HeightsThe Queenston Heights is a geographical feature of the Niagara Escarpment immediately above the village of Queenston, Ontario, Canada. Its geography is a promontory formed where the escarpment is divided by the Niagara River...
and Lundy's Lane our brave fathers, side by side - for freedom, homes, and loved ones dear, firmly stood and nobly died.
- And those dear rights which they maintained, we swear to yield them never.
- Our watchword evermore shall be, the Maple LeafFlag of CanadaThe national flag of Canada, also known as the Maple Leaf, and , is a red flag with a white square in its centre, featuring a stylized 11-pointed red maple leaf. Its adoption in 1965 marked the first time a national flag had been officially adopted in Canada to replace the Union Flag...
forever!
- In the 2002 film Gangs of New YorkGangs of New YorkGangs of New York is a 2002 historical film set in the mid-19th century in the Five Points district of New York City. It was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan. The film was inspired by Herbert Asbury's 1928 nonfiction book, The Gangs of New...
, the character of Bill "the Butcher" Cutting, played by Daniel Day Lewis, mentions that his father died "for his country" on the "25th of July Anno Domini 1814". Given the context of the film, it is likely he was referring to the Battle of Lundy's Lane.
Orders of battle
| British order of battle | American order of battle |
|---|---|
Lieutenant General Sir Gordon Drummond Gordon Drummond Sir Gordon Drummond, GCB was the first Canadian-born officer to command the military and the civil government of Canada...
Note: the companies of the Royal Scots and 8th King's were very understrength, after the Battle of Chippawa earlier in the month. |
Left Division (Major General Jacob Brown Jacob Brown Jacob Jennings Brown was an American army officer in the War of 1812. His successes on the northern border during that war made him a hero. In 1821 he was appointed commanding general of the U.S. Army and held that post until his death.-Early life:Born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Jacob Jennings... )
Note: A company of three 18-pounder guns under Captain Alexander Williams and another of two 18-pounder guns under Lieutenant David Douglass apparently could not be brought into action |
External links
- History of the Incorporated Militia Battalion of Upper Canada
- Images from the Historic Niagara Digital Collections at Niagara Falls Public Library
- Art works in the collection of the Niagara Falls Public Library
- Poems of the Battle of Lundy's Lane from the Niagara Falls Poetry Project
- PBS Documentary Includes a chapter on Lundy's Lane.