The Battle of Beaver Dams took place on 24 June 1813, during the War of 1812. A column of troops from the United States Army marched from Fort George and attempted to surprise a British outpost at Beaver Dams, billeting themselves overnight in the village of Queenston, Ontario. Laura Secord, a resident of Queenston, had earlier learned of the American plans from several Americans billeted at her house and had struck out on a long and difficult trek to warn the British at Decou's stone house near present-day Brock University. When the Americans resumed their march, they were ambushed by Kahnawake and other native warriors and eventually surrendered to a small British detachment led by Lieutenant James FitzGibbon. About 500 U.S. troops, including their wounded commander, were taken prisoner.

Background

On 25 May 1813, the United States had won the Battle of Fort George, capturing the fort. The British fell back to a position at Burlington Heights near the western end of Lake Ontario, briefly abandoning the entire Niagara Peninsula to the invading force. The Americans attempted to pursue the British, but their advance was checked at the Battle of Stoney Creek by a British counter-attack. At the same time, the flotilla of warships of the United States Navy which had been supporting their army on the Niagara Peninsula was hastily withdrawn to face a threat to their own base, and a British flotilla threatened the American line of communications. The Americans fell back to Fort George. The British followed up and established an outpost at DeCou's house in the present-day city of Thorold, Ontario, from which natives and militia harassed the U.S. outposts.

The U.S. Army commander at Fort George, Brigadier General John Parker Boyd, decided to clear the threat posed by enemy raiders and to restore his men's morale by making a surprise attack on the outpost at DeCou's.

U.S. plan

The force assigned to the attack was led by the recently promoted Colonel Charles Boerstler of the 14th U.S. Infantry The force was accompanied by two large supply wagons. At dusk on 23 June, Boerstler's force moved in secret from Fort George to the village of Queenston, where they quartered themselves in the houses and other buildings.

thumb|left|upright|[[Laura Secord escorted to the British outpost by Mohawk warriors.]]

Several American officers had earlier billeted themselves in the house of Canadian Militia Captain James Secord, who had been severely wounded the previous year at the Battle of Queenston Heights. His wife, Laura Secord, overheard the officers discussing their scheme. Very early on 22 June, she set out to warn the British at DeCou's house, walking about through the woods until she came upon a native encampment on the Twelve Mile Creek. The warriors took her to Lieutenant James FitzGibbon, who commanded the British outpost. The information she conveyed to FitzGibbon confirmed what natives had reported since they first observed the U.S. column near St. David's.

Battle

The main contingent of natives were 300 Kahnawake, also referred to as Caughnawaga in contemporary accounts, Mohawk people who had earlier been converted to Christianity by Jesuit missionaries. They were commanded by Captain Dominique Ducharme of the Indian Department, with Lieutenants Isaac LeClair and J.B. de Lorimier. There were also 100 Mohawks under Captain William Johnson Kerr. They set up ambushes in a thickly wooded area east of Beaver Dams. FitzGibbon with 46 men of the 49th Regiment of Foot was in reserve.

thumb|upright|Lt. [[James FitzGibbon led 46 regulars of the 49th Regiment of Foot during the battle.]]

Early on 24 June, U.S. forces set out for DeCou's stone house. At St. David's they proceeded along a trail at the base of the escarpment until they reached another trail leading up the "mountain". Reaching the top, they became aware of natives closing in on their flanks and rear, but Boerstler did not change his plans. When the natives opened fire, Boerstler was wounded and placed in one of the wagons. According to U.S. accounts, they caused the Mohawks to flee and fought their way out of the woods into open fields where they could use their artillery, and the natives were not at such an advantage. This account is not supported by other witnesses.

At this point, FitzGibbon intervened. Addressing Boerstler under a flag of truce, he claimed that the Americans were outnumbered and surrounded, and that if they did not surrender he would be unable to restrain the natives from slaughtering them. The wounded Boerstler capitulated to Major de Haren of the Canadian Regiment of Fencible Infantry, who had just arrived on the field with another detachment of British regulars (mainly from the 104th Regiment) from Twelve Mile Creek.

The U.S. force surrendered in a field just south of the Thorold Tunnel, east of the present-day Welland Canal. The prisoners were escorted first to DeCou's, then to the British base at Ball's Falls..

Casualties

The natives admitted to a total of five chiefs and warriors killed, and 20 wounded,

Legends and folk tales

Referring to the respective parts played by the various Native Americans and the British, local legend (perhaps started by Mohawk leader John Norton, who was present) had it that, "The Caughnawaga got the victory, the Mohawks got the plunder and FitzGibbon got the credit".

In 1818,</blockquote>

By this account, Laura Secord learned of the U.S. plans and made her exit from St. David's (near Queenston) on June 22, before the main body of U.S. troops had set out from Fort George.

National Historic Site

thumb|Gate at the entrance to Beaverdams Park [[Thorold.]]

Beaver Dams represents one of the earliest attempts to create a national historical park. In 1914, a convention of Ontario historical and patriotic groups resolved to ask the Department of the Interior "to develop a 40-acre site near Thorold as a national battlefield park commemorating the Battle of Beaver Dams."

Although Beaver Dams was not made a national park, the Historic Sites and Monuments Board was created in 1919 to develop a heritage policy at the federal level for historic sites. In 1921, soon after the Board's formation, the Board recommended the designation of the Battle of Beaver Dams site as a National Historic Site, one of its earliest selections.

A monument commemorating the battle was dedicated in 1923 and situated on the original site of the event (near the southeast corner of the intersection of Davis Road and Old Thorold Stone Road, approximately southeast of present-day Thorold), where it was located for several decades. In 1976, this monument (as well as one marking the site where in 1876, during construction of the 3rd Welland Canal, the remains of 16 U.S. soldiers from the battle were uncovered) was subsequently relocated several kilometres to the west when the Battle of Beaverdams [sic] Park was opened and there was talk of constructing a 5th Welland Canal near the battlefield. The original site of the battlefield was unmarked from 1976 until 2013, the Battle of Beaverdams Committee discussed marking the site with a "historic boulder" for the bicentennial

Related to the National Historic Site, the Laura Secord Legacy Trail was dedicated in June 2013, recreating the route of her journey from her homestead in Queenston to DeCew House in Thorold, where she delivered her message to Lt. Fitzgibbon on June 22, 1813. The trail is divided into five stages and encompasses ancient forested Indian trails and modern city sidewalks. The trail is linked to the Trans-Canada Trail and is 32 kilometers.

<gallery class="center">

File:Beaverdams Original Monument now located at Beaverdams Park Thorold ON.jpg|Beaverdams Original Monument now located at Beaverdams Park Thorold

File:Beaverdams Park American Soldiers Monument.jpg|In memory of unknown U.S. soldiers at the Battle of Beaverdams

File:Boulder1.jpg|Main Plaque of Battle of Beaverdams Boulder

File:Boulder2.jpg|Second side of Battle of Beaverdams Boulder

File:Boulder3.jpg|Third Side of Battle of Beaverdams Boulder

</gallery>

Notes

References

  • Stanley, G.F.G. "The Significance of the Six Nations Participation in the War of 1812." Ontario History LV(4), 1963.
  • [https://www.google.com/maps/place/McDonald's/@56.4277912,10.0495561,989m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m9!1m2!2m1!1smcdonalds!3m5!1s0x464c1c9b55b41a55:0x27a77e2012de049c!8m2!3d56.4293194!4d10.0560773!15sCgltY2RvbmFsZHMiA4gBAVoLIgltY2RvbmFsZHOSARRmYXN0X2Zvb2RfcmVzdGF1cmFudA]. The Canadian Encyclopedia.
  • Poems of the Battle of Beaverdams from the Niagara Falls Poetry Project