Miller Worsley (8 July 1791 – 2 May 1835) was an officer in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

, best known for playing a major part in the Engagements on Lake Huron in the Anglo-American

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

Early career

Worsley was the son of a clergyman, and first joined the Navy as a volunteer in 1803. He became a Midshipman in 1805. He was present at the

Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (180 ...

, aboard HMS ''Swiftsure''. Although he passed the examination for Lieutenant in 1810, owing to the large numbers of officers in the Royal Navy at the time he was still a midshipman when drafted from

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...

in 1812 with several other officers (including Acting Commanders

Robert Heriot Barclay Robert Heriot Barclay (18 September 1786 – 8 May 1837) was a British naval officer who was engaged in the Napoleonic Wars, and its North American counterpart, the War of 1812. Life He was born in Cupar, Fife, Scotland, the son of the Rev. P ...

and

Daniel Pring Daniel Pring ( 1788 – 29 November 1846) was an officer in the British Royal Navy. He is best known for the part he played in the War of 1812 between Britain and the United States. He was born near Honiton in Devon. He entered the Navy in 18 ...

) to serve in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. He was finally promoted Lieutenant on 12 July 1813. Early in 1814 he was appointed First Lieutenant of the frigate HMS ''Princess Charlotte'' on

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border ...

and participated in the Raid on Fort Oswego. He was then appointed to command the Royal Naval detachment on Lake Huron, succeeding Lieutenant Newdigate Poyntz, who had quarrelled with the Army Commander, Lieutenant Colonel

Robert McDouall Major-General Robert McDouall, CB (March 1774 – 15 November 1848) was a Scottish-born officer in the British Army, who saw much action during the Napoleonic Wars and the Anglo-American War of 1812. He is best known for serving as the command ...

, over the degree to which the Naval personnel should be subject to McDouall's orders.

Engagements on Lake Huron

Worsley made his way overland to the base at

Nottawasaga Bay Nottawasaga Bay is a sub-bay within Georgian Bay in Southern Ontario, Canada located at the southernmost end of the main bay. The communities located on Nottawasaga Bay are Meaford, The Blue Mountains, Collingwood, Wasaga Beach and Tiny. ...

in July and took command of the only naval vessel on the lake, the commandeered schooner ''Nancy''. Before he could sail to

Fort Mackinac Fort Mackinac ( ) is a former British and American military outpost garrisoned from the late 18th century to the late 19th century in the city of Mackinac Island, Michigan, on Mackinac Island. The British built the fort during the American Re ...

with urgently needed rations and powder, he was warned that an American force was lying in wait. He attempted to conceal ''Nancy'' by towing it some distance up the

Nottawasaga River The Nottawasaga River is a river in Simcoe County and Dufferin County in Central Ontario, Canada. It is part of the Great Lakes Basin, and is a tributary of Lake Huron. The river flows from the Orangeville Reservoir in the town of Orangeville, ...

and constructed a blockhouse to defend the schooner. His detachment consisted of a Midshipman and twenty-one sailors of the Royal Navy, nine French Canadian

voyageurs The voyageurs (; ) were 18th and 19th century French Canadians who engaged in the transporting of furs via canoe during the peak of the North American fur trade. The emblematic meaning of the term applies to places (New France, including th ...

and twenty-three Ojibwa Natives. The Americans discovered the schooner's hiding place, and the Americans landed a superior force of infantry supported by artillery and ships firing "blind" over intervening sandy ridges. After a stiff resistance, Worlsey decided that the day was lost and made preparations to retreat. Either he or American shells set the schooner on fire. Both the schooner and blockhouse were destroyed. Worsley withdrew his small party unmolested, having lost one man killed and one wounded. After the Americans withdrew, he then loaded two

batteau A bateau or batteau is a shallow-draft, flat-bottomed boat which was used extensively across North America, especially in the colonial period and in the fur trade. It was traditionally pointed at both ends but came in a wide variety of sizes. ...

x and a canoe with some supplies which the Americans had missed and set out for Fort Mackinac. After rowing and paddling , during which passage he and his party ate only some game they shot and some fish from the lake, he spotted two American gunboats near St. Joseph Island. He concealed the batteaux and continued to Mackinac in the canoe, at one point passing only a few yards from one of the gunboats. At Mackinac, he obtained four large boats and reinforcements of marines from Lieutenant Colonel McDouall. In the early hours of 4 September, he led a successful boarding attack on the gunboat USS ''Tigress'', which was captured after a sharp fight. Two days later, the unsuspecting USS ''Scorpion'' also fell into Worsley's hands. This secured British supremacy on Lake Huron for the remainder of the war.

Later career

Worsley fell ill in October with "Lake Fever", which affected many sailors on the Great Lakes during the war. He saw no further active service, although he was appointed half-pay commander on 13 July 1815. After the war, he returned to his parental home on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

, and married in 1820. He and his wife had at least two sons and one daughter. In 1832 he became an Inspecting Commander in the Coastguard. He left in 1834 and died the next year. Worsley Street in the City of

Barrie Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politically ...

, Ontario, is named after him. This street crosses Poyntz Street at the southeast corner of the Barrie courthouse.

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Worsley, Miller 1791 births 1835 deaths Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Royal Navy personnel of the War of 1812 Royal Navy officers British people of the War of 1812 British military personnel of the War of 1812