Battle of the Thousand Islands
Encyclopedia
The Battle of the Thousand Islands was fought 16–24 August 1760, in the upper St. Lawrence River, amongst the Thousand Islands
, along the present day Canada–United States border, by British and French forces during the closing phases of the Seven Years' War
, as it is called in Canada
and Europe, or the French and Indian War
as it is referred to in the United States
.
The engagement took place at Fort Lévis
(about one mile (1.6 km) downstream from the modern Ogdensburg
–Prescott
International Bridge), Point au Baril (present-day Maitland, Ontario
), and the surrounding waters and islands. The small French garrison at Fort Lévis held the much larger British army at bay for over a week, managing to sink two British warships and to cripple a third. Their resistance delayed the British advance to Montreal
from the west.
at Île Royale (present-day Chimney Island New York) in the St. Lawrence River. Captain Pierre Pouchot
was assigned its defense. Pouchot had been taken prisoner after the siege of Fort Niagara
, but he was later released in a prisoner exchange. Chevalier de Lévis' original design for the fort called for stone walls, 200 guns
and some 2,500 troops. What Pouchot had was a small fort with wooden stockades, five cannon and 200 soldiers. Also under Pouchot's command were the corvette
s l'Outaouaise and l'Iroquoise, crewed by 200 sailors and voyageurs
. l'Iroquoise, under command of Commodore René Hypolite Pépin dit La Force, was armed with ten 12-pound cannon and swivel gun
s . l'Outaouaise, commanded by Captain Pierre Boucher de Labroquerie carried ten 12-pounders, one 18-pound gun and swivel guns.
After the fall of Quebec in the 1759 Battle of the Plains of Abraham
, British Commander-in-Chief
General
Jeffrey Amherst prepared to launch a three-pronged attack to take Montréal. Columns were to advance along the St Lawrence
from Quebec to the northeast, up the Richelieu River
from Lake Champlain
to the south, and from Oswego
on Lake Ontario
to the west. The latter force, which Amherst led personally, numbered some 10,000 men and 100 siege guns.
Soon after his arrival to Île Royal, Pouchot ordered abandonment of the nearby mission Fort de La Présentation
and the shipyard and stockades at Pointe au Baril to consolidate his resources at the more defendable Fort Lévis. La Force had run his corvette l'Iroquoise aground at Pointe au Baril on 1 August. Although l'Iroquoise was raised, it was deemed too damaged to be put into action. It was beached again under the guns at Fort Lévis.
Amherst's force set out from Oswego on 10 August. Captain Joshua Loring
, who commanded the British snow
s Onondaga and Mohawk
, had been sent ahead of Amherst's force as an advance guard. The Onondaga, had been launched at Fort Niagara
as the Apollo in 1759. Commanded by Loring, it carried four 9-pound guns, fourteen 6-pounders and a crew of 100 seamen and 25 soldiers. The Mohawk, commanded by Lieutenant David Phipps, carried sixteen 6-pounders and a crew of 90 seamen and 30 soldiers.
Amherst's force arrived at Pointe au Baril on 16 August. Fearing the remaining French ship might attack his transports, Amherst ordered Colonel George Williamson to capture l'Outaouaise the following day. At dawn of 17 August, Williamson set out in a gig
, accompanied by five row galleys (one armed with a howitzer
, the others each armed with a single 12-pounder). The galleys took shelter fore and aft of l'Outaouaise, where they could not be hit by the ship's broadsides. The British galleys fired grapeshot
and round shot at the French ship, crippling l'Outaouaise, which drifted helplessly towards the British battery
set up at Pointe au Baril. After 3 hrs of fighting, l'Outaouaise had managed to fire around 72 shots, damaging two of the British galleys. Labroquerie was forced to surrender l'Outaouaise to Williamson. Labroquerie was wounded in the fighting, along with 15 of his crew, who were killed or wounded.
The captured l'Outaouaise was repaired and renamed Williamson, to be put back into service by Captain Patrick Sinclair
against her former owners. On 19 August, Amherst commenced the attack on Fort Lévis. La Force and his crew had been ordered back from the beached l'Iroquoise to the fort to assist with its defense. The Williamson was hit 48 times by the five French guns when it joined in with the British batteries firing on Fort Lévis from surrounding islands. The Mohawk and Onondaga finally arrived at the scene in the evening and Amherst called a ceasefire for the night. The attack resumed at dawn on 20 August with the Williamson, Mohawk and the Onondaga all firing on the fort with a combined 50 guns. As the attack progressed, the French guns hit and sank the Williamson and the Onondaga. The Mohawk ran aground under the French cannon, where it sat helpless as it was pounded until out of action. The British batteries on the surrounding islands continued to fire, switching to "hot shot
" , used to start fires within the fort. The siege continued until 24 August when Pouchot ran out of ammunition for his guns and asked for terms.
) to the French losses of around 275 of the original 300 defenders killed or wounded. Pouchot was amongst the wounded. The British could hardly believe that such a small garrison had offered such spirited resistance.
After the battle, Amherst's force remained at Fort Lévis for another 4 days before continuing on towards Montréal. The British advance cost Amherst at least 84 more men drowned in the rapids of the St. Lawrence (although Pouchot puts this number at 336). He went on to meet the forces from Quebec and Lake Champlain and completely surrounded Montréal. On 6 September, Montréal was surrendered by New France's governor, the Marquis de Vaudreuil
.
The British renamed Fort Lévis as Fort William Augustus. They raised the three ships sunk during the battle (the Williamson, the Onondaga and the Mohawk) and put them back into service to patrol the waters between the fort and Fort Niagara.
Thousand Islands
The Thousand Islands is the name of an archipelago of islands that straddle the Canada-U.S. border in the Saint Lawrence River as it emerges from the northeast corner of Lake Ontario. They stretch for about downstream from Kingston, Ontario. The Canadian islands are in the province of Ontario, the...
, along the present day Canada–United States border, by British and French forces during the closing phases of the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
, as it is called in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and Europe, or the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
as it is referred to in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
The engagement took place at Fort Lévis
Fort Lévis
Fort Lévis, a fortification on the St. Lawrence River, was built in 1759 by the French. They had decided that Fort de La Présentation was insufficient to defend the St. Lawrence against the British. Named for François Gaston de Lévis, Duc de Lévis, the fort was constructed on Isle Royale, three...
(about one mile (1.6 km) downstream from the modern Ogdensburg
Ogdensburg, New York
Ogdensburg is a city in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The population was 11,128 at the 2010 census. In the late 18th century, European-American settlers named the community after American land owner and developer Samuel Ogden....
–Prescott
Prescott, Ontario
Prescott is a town of approximately 4,180 people on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Leeds and Grenville United Counties, Ontario, Canada. The Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge, 5 km east of Prescott in Johnstown, connects it with Ogdensburg, New York...
International Bridge), Point au Baril (present-day Maitland, Ontario
Maitland, United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, Ontario
Maitland is a community of approximately 1800 residents, about 5 km east of the city of Brockville, in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the shores of the Saint Lawrence River in the township of Augusta. The small village enjoys a rich history dating to the times of British colonialism...
), and the surrounding waters and islands. The small French garrison at Fort Lévis held the much larger British army at bay for over a week, managing to sink two British warships and to cripple a third. Their resistance delayed the British advance to Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
from the west.
Background and forces
By August of 1760, the French were building Fort LévisFort Lévis
Fort Lévis, a fortification on the St. Lawrence River, was built in 1759 by the French. They had decided that Fort de La Présentation was insufficient to defend the St. Lawrence against the British. Named for François Gaston de Lévis, Duc de Lévis, the fort was constructed on Isle Royale, three...
at Île Royale (present-day Chimney Island New York) in the St. Lawrence River. Captain Pierre Pouchot
Pierre Pouchot
Captain Pierre Pouchot was a French military engineer and officer in the French regular army.He was born at Grenoble, France, son of a merchant. In 1733 he joined the regular army as a volunteer engineer and on May 1, 1734 was appointed a second lieutenant in the Regiment de Bearn...
was assigned its defense. Pouchot had been taken prisoner after the siege of Fort Niagara
Battle of Fort Niagara
The Battle of Fort Niagara was a siege late in the French and Indian War, the North American theatre of the Seven Years' War. The British siege of Fort Niagara in July 1759 was part of a campaign to remove French control of the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley regions, making possible a western invasion...
, but he was later released in a prisoner exchange. Chevalier de Lévis' original design for the fort called for stone walls, 200 guns
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
and some 2,500 troops. What Pouchot had was a small fort with wooden stockades, five cannon and 200 soldiers. Also under Pouchot's command were the corvette
Corvette
A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...
s l'Outaouaise and l'Iroquoise, crewed by 200 sailors and voyageurs
Voyageurs
The Voyageurs were the persons who engaged in the transportation of furs by canoe during the fur trade era. Voyageur is a French word which literally translates to "traveler"...
. l'Iroquoise, under command of Commodore René Hypolite Pépin dit La Force, was armed with ten 12-pound cannon and swivel gun
Swivel gun
The term swivel gun usually refers to a small cannon, mounted on a swiveling stand or fork which allows a very wide arc of movement. Another type of firearm referred to as a swivel gun was an early flintlock combination gun with two barrels that rotated along their axes to allow the shooter to...
s . l'Outaouaise, commanded by Captain Pierre Boucher de Labroquerie carried ten 12-pounders, one 18-pound gun and swivel guns.
After the fall of Quebec in the 1759 Battle of the Plains of Abraham
Battle of the Plains of Abraham
The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, also known as the Battle of Quebec, was a pivotal battle in the Seven Years' War...
, British Commander-in-Chief
Commander-in-Chief
A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...
General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Jeffrey Amherst prepared to launch a three-pronged attack to take Montréal. Columns were to advance along the St Lawrence
Saint Lawrence River
The Saint Lawrence is a large river flowing approximately from southwest to northeast in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. It is the primary drainage conveyor of the Great Lakes Basin...
from Quebec to the northeast, up the Richelieu River
Richelieu River
The Richelieu River is a river in Quebec, Canada. It flows from the north end of Lake Champlain about north, ending at the confluence with the St. Lawrence River at Sorel-Tracy, Quebec downstream and northeast of Montreal...
from Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain is a natural, freshwater lake in North America, located mainly within the borders of the United States but partially situated across the Canada—United States border in the Canadian province of Quebec.The New York portion of the Champlain Valley includes the eastern portions of...
to the south, and from Oswego
Oswego, New York
Oswego is a city in Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 18,142 at the 2010 census. Oswego is located on Lake Ontario in north-central New York and promotes itself as "The Port City of Central New York"...
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...
to the west. The latter force, which Amherst led personally, numbered some 10,000 men and 100 siege guns.
Soon after his arrival to Île Royal, Pouchot ordered abandonment of the nearby mission Fort de La Présentation
Fort de La Présentation
In 1749, the French Sulpician priest, Abbé Picquet, built a mission fort, which he named Fort de La Présentation . It was also sometimes known as Fort La Galette. It was built at the confluence of the Oswegatchie River and the St Lawrence River in Canada...
and the shipyard and stockades at Pointe au Baril to consolidate his resources at the more defendable Fort Lévis. La Force had run his corvette l'Iroquoise aground at Pointe au Baril on 1 August. Although l'Iroquoise was raised, it was deemed too damaged to be put into action. It was beached again under the guns at Fort Lévis.
Amherst's force set out from Oswego on 10 August. Captain Joshua Loring
Joshua Loring
Joshua Loring was an 18th century colonial American naval officer in British service. During the French and Indian War, he served as a commodore in the Great Lakes region and was active during much of the Ontario and Quebec campaigns.-Biography:Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Loring was apprenticed...
, who commanded the British snow
Snow (ship)
A snow or snaw is a sailing vessel. A type of brig , snows were primarily used as merchant ships, but saw war service as well...
s Onondaga and Mohawk
HMS Mohawk (1759)
HMS Mohawk was a snow that participated in the Battle of the Thousand Islands, during the French and Indian War.The French, under Captain Pierre Pouchot, had started to build her in 1758 at Fort Niagara but the British captured her at the Battle of Fort Niagara and then finished her construction...
, had been sent ahead of Amherst's force as an advance guard. The Onondaga, had been launched at 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:...
as the Apollo in 1759. Commanded by Loring, it carried four 9-pound guns, fourteen 6-pounders and a crew of 100 seamen and 25 soldiers. The Mohawk, commanded by Lieutenant David Phipps, carried sixteen 6-pounders and a crew of 90 seamen and 30 soldiers.
Battle
On 7 August, French lookouts sighted the Onondaga and the Mohawk from their outpost at Ile aux Chevreuils, upstream from Fort Lévis. The French withdrew in a row galley, pursued by the Onondaga and the Mohawk. The two British ships got lost in the maze of islands, and did not find their way back to the main channel for several days.Amherst's force arrived at Pointe au Baril on 16 August. Fearing the remaining French ship might attack his transports, Amherst ordered Colonel George Williamson to capture l'Outaouaise the following day. At dawn of 17 August, Williamson set out in a gig
Captain's Gig
The captain's gig is a boat used on naval ships as the captain's private taxi. It is a catchall phrase for this type of craft and over the years it has gradually increased in size, changed with the advent of new technologies for locomotion, and been crafted from increasingly more durable...
, accompanied by five row galleys (one armed with a howitzer
Howitzer
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...
, the others each armed with a single 12-pounder). The galleys took shelter fore and aft of l'Outaouaise, where they could not be hit by the ship's broadsides. The British galleys fired grapeshot
Grapeshot
In artillery, a grapeshot is a type of shot that is not a one solid element, but a mass of small metal balls or slugs packed tightly into a canvas bag. It was used both in land and naval warfare. When assembled, the balls resembled a cluster of grapes, hence the name...
and round shot at the French ship, crippling l'Outaouaise, which drifted helplessly towards the British battery
Artillery battery
In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...
set up at Pointe au Baril. After 3 hrs of fighting, l'Outaouaise had managed to fire around 72 shots, damaging two of the British galleys. Labroquerie was forced to surrender l'Outaouaise to Williamson. Labroquerie was wounded in the fighting, along with 15 of his crew, who were killed or wounded.
The captured l'Outaouaise was repaired and renamed Williamson, to be put back into service by Captain Patrick Sinclair
Patrick Sinclair
Lieutenant-General Patrick Sinclair was a British Army officer and governor in North America. He is best remembered for overseeing the construction of Fort Mackinac on Mackinac Island in what was to become the U.S. state of Michigan.-Biography:Sinclair was born in Lybster, Scotland, and enlisted...
against her former owners. On 19 August, Amherst commenced the attack on Fort Lévis. La Force and his crew had been ordered back from the beached l'Iroquoise to the fort to assist with its defense. The Williamson was hit 48 times by the five French guns when it joined in with the British batteries firing on Fort Lévis from surrounding islands. The Mohawk and Onondaga finally arrived at the scene in the evening and Amherst called a ceasefire for the night. The attack resumed at dawn on 20 August with the Williamson, Mohawk and the Onondaga all firing on the fort with a combined 50 guns. As the attack progressed, the French guns hit and sank the Williamson and the Onondaga. The Mohawk ran aground under the French cannon, where it sat helpless as it was pounded until out of action. The British batteries on the surrounding islands continued to fire, switching to "hot shot
Heated shot
Heated shot is the practice of heating round shot before firing from muzzle-loading cannons, for the purpose of setting fire to enemy warships, buildings, or equipment. The use of hot shot dates back centuries and only ceased when vessels armored with iron replaced wooden warships in the world's...
" , used to start fires within the fort. The siege continued until 24 August when Pouchot ran out of ammunition for his guns and asked for terms.
Aftermath
The fighting cost the British some 26 killed and 47 wounded (likely excluding militiaMilitia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
) to the French losses of around 275 of the original 300 defenders killed or wounded. Pouchot was amongst the wounded. The British could hardly believe that such a small garrison had offered such spirited resistance.
After the battle, Amherst's force remained at Fort Lévis for another 4 days before continuing on towards Montréal. The British advance cost Amherst at least 84 more men drowned in the rapids of the St. Lawrence (although Pouchot puts this number at 336). He went on to meet the forces from Quebec and Lake Champlain and completely surrounded Montréal. On 6 September, Montréal was surrendered by New France's governor, the Marquis de Vaudreuil
Pierre François de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnal
Pierre François de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnal was a Canadian-born French colonial governor in North America...
.
The British renamed Fort Lévis as Fort William Augustus. They raised the three ships sunk during the battle (the Williamson, the Onondaga and the Mohawk) and put them back into service to patrol the waters between the fort and Fort Niagara.