The Raid on Port Dover was an episode during the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It be ...
.
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
troops crossed
Lake Erie
Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also ha ...
to capture or destroy stocks of grain and destroy mills at
Port Dover, Ontario
Port Dover is an unincorporated community and former town located in Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada, on the north shore of Lake Erie. It is the site of the recurring Friday the 13th motorcycle rally. Prior to the War of 1812, this community ...
, which were used to provide flour for
British
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troops stationed on the
Niagara Peninsula
The Niagara Peninsula is an area of land lying between the southwestern shore of Lake Ontario and the northeastern shore of Lake Erie, in Ontario, Canada. Technically an isthmus rather than a peninsula, it stretches from the Niagara River in t ...
. At the instigation of Lieutenant Colonel
John B. Campbell and without sanction from his superiors or the government of the United States, the Americans also destroyed private houses and other property, prompting British commanders to demand reprisals in other theatres of the war. To some degree, the
burning of Washington
The Burning of Washington was a British invasion of Washington City (now Washington, D.C.), the capital of the United States, during the Chesapeake Campaign of the War of 1812. It is the only time since the American Revolutionary War that a ...
by the British later in the year was influenced by the American actions at Port Dover.
Background
In the spring of 1814, the Americans were preparing to make an attack across the
Niagara River
The Niagara River () is a river that flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the province of Ontario in Canada (on the west) and the state of New York in the United States (on the east). There are diffe ...
. As the Americans held undisputed control of Lake Erie, the troops at
Presque Isle on the lake's southern shore were no longer needed to protect the improvised shipyard there, and were ordered to join the main American army at
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...
.
The idea of raiding the Canadian settlements near
Long Point and destroying the mills there ''en route'' to Buffalo occurred both to Captain
Arthur Sinclair
Commodore Arthur Sinclair (28 February 1780 – 7 February 1831) was an early American naval hero, who served in the U.S. Navy during the Quasi-War with France, the First Barbary War and in the War of 1812. His three sons also served in the ...
, commanding the armed vessels of the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
on Lake Erie, and Lieutenant Colonel
John B. Campbell, commanding the troops at Presque Isle.
It took some days to assemble the expedition, in particular to obtain volunteers from the Pennsylvania Militia, and Sinclair later considered that the delay and publicity prevented the raid from achieving surprise.
[ On 13 May 750 troops, composed of detachments of regulars (including artillery) and Pennsylvania militia, were embarked aboard Sinclair's ships. The expedition was accompanied by several renegade Canadian guides, including Abraham Markle.
]
Raid
In the late afternoon of 14 May, the Americans landed near Port Dover. There was a minor skirmish between American militiamen and some Canadian militiamen who were trying to remove goods from a storehouse.[Ernest A. Cruikshank, ''The County of Norfolk in the War of 1912'', in Zaslow, p.233]
The Americans remained where they had disembarked during the night of 14 May. The next day, they marched to the village of Dover, where they drew up in formal line of battle, although there was no opposition. On Campbell's orders they then set fire to every building in the settlement: twenty houses, three flour mills, three sawmills, three distilleries, twelve barns and some other buildings. All livestock was shot, and their bodies left to rot. Some of Sinclair's sailors took the hind ends of the slaughtered hogs, but other than these opportune thefts, there was no plundering.['ernest A, Cruikshank, ''The County of Norfolk in the War of 1812'', in Zaslow, p.234] Although the local women and children were allowed to remove their personal possessions from their houses before they were set on fire, they were able to remove only small items.
Much of the property destroyed had belonged to Robert Nichol, who was noted for his support for the British authorities, at the instigation of Markle, who had been expelled from the local Legislative Assembly by Nichol.[
The Americans then re-embarked, but landed again the next day to burn another mill and a sawmill.][ They then returned to Presque Isle. During the entire raid, the only opposition had been some scattered Canadian militia, and a troop of the 19th Light Dragoons. The British had either received word of the impending raid, or had taken precautions against the possibility, and almost all the flour in the settlement (several hundred barrels) had already been removed to safety.][Ernest A. Cruikshank, ''The County of Norfolk in the War of 1812'', in Zaslow, p.235]
Aftermath
Sinclair and several other American officers (particularly among the militia) were enraged by Campbell's actions. Campbell insisted, both at the time[ and subsequently in a note to the British Major General ]Phineas Riall
General Sir Phineas Riall, KCH (15 December 1775 – 10 November 1850) was the British general who succeeded John Vincent as commanding officer of the Niagara Peninsula in Upper Canada during the War of 1812. In 1816, he was appointed Governor ...
, commanding the division on the Niagara Peninsula, that he personally ordered the destruction without any sanction from his superiors or the United States government, in retaliation for the burning of the American settlements of Havre de Grace (on Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / ...
), Lewiston and Buffalo the previous year.[
The official notes of protest from Riall and complaints by Sinclair and other Americans prompted the United States Army to hold a ]Court of Enquiry
A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and carry out the administration of justice in Civil law (common law), civil, C ...
, presided over by Brigadier General Winfield Scott
Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786May 29, 1866) was an American military commander and political candidate. He served as a general in the United States Army from 1814 to 1861, taking part in the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, the early s ...
, on 20 June. The court concluded that Campbell was justified in burning the mills and distilleries which might have been used to supply flour and spirits to the British forces, and that some adjacent buildings were unavoidably involved. However, Campbell was found to have made an error of judgement in destroying private houses and other buildings. No further disciplinary action was taken at the time, and Campbell was mortally wounded at the Battle of Chippawa
The Battle of Chippawa, also known as the Battle of Chippewa, was a victory for the United States Army in the War of 1812, during its invasion on July 5, 1814, of the British Empire's colony of Upper Canada along the Niagara River. This battle ...
on 5 July.[
]
British response
Lieutenant General Sir George Prevost
George may refer to:
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, the Governor General of the Canadas and commander in chief of the forces there, wrote on 2 June to Vice Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane
Admiral of the Blue Sir Alexander Inglis Cochrane (born Alexander Forrester Cochrane; 23 April 1758 – 26 January 1832) was a senior Royal Navy commander during the Napoleonic Wars and achieved the rank of admiral.
He had previously captain ...
, commander of the North American Station
The North America and West Indies Station was a formation or command of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy stationed in North American waters from 1745 to 1956. The North American Station was separate from the Jamaica Station until 1830 when the ...
of the Royal Navy, without noting that Campbell had not acted under orders:
...in consequence of the late disgraceful conduct of the American troops in the wanton destruction of private property on the north shores of Lake Erie, in order that if the war with the United States continues you may, should you judge it advisable, assist in inflicting that measure of retaliation which shall deter the enemy from a repetition of similar outrages.[Cruikshank, ''Documentary History'', p.402]
Cochrane in turn wrote from his station in Bermuda
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on 18 June to John Wilson Croker
John Wilson Croker (20 December 178010 August 1857) was an Anglo-Irish statesman and author.
Life
He was born in Galway, the only son of John Croker, the surveyor-general of customs and excise in Ireland. He was educated at Trinity College Dubl ...
, the Secretary to the Admiralty:
I am most decidedly of opinion that the readiest way to attain this object is to bring home to the supporters of the Government which authorizes this unnatural system of warfare a full share of its dreadful calamities and to this end, I have issued to the commanding officer of H.M. blockading squadron an order, accompanied by a secret memorandum...
ORDER FOR RETALIATION
No. 1
By the Honorable Alexander Cochrane, K.B. &c, &c, &c.
Whereas... it appears that the American troops in Upper Canada have committed the most wanton and unjustifiable outrages on the unoffending inhabitants by burning their mills and houses, and by a general devastation of private property...
You are hereby required and directed to destroy and lay waste such towns and districts as you may find assailable. You will hold strictly in view the conduct of the American army towards His Majesty's unoffending Canadian subjects and you will spare merely the lives of the unarmed inhabitants of the United States.[Cruikshank, ''Documentary History'', pp.414–415]
In the appended secret memorandum, Cochrane modified these severe orders by instructing his commanders to spare places which furnished supplies to British ships or troops, or to levy contributions in return for forbearance, in proportion to the value of goods and buildings spared.[ This code of conduct was followed by the British during the ]Raid on Alexandria
Battle of Alexandria, Raid on Alexandria, or Siege of Alexandria may refer to one of these military operations fought in or near the city of Alexandria, Egypt:
* Siege of Alexandria (169 BC), during the Syrian Wars
* Siege of Alexandria (47 BC), ...
.
References
;Footnotes
;Citations
Sources
*
*
*
*
* Zaslow, Morris (ed) ''The Defended Border'', Macmillan of Canada, 1964,
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Port Dover, Raid on
Conflicts in 1814
Battles of the War of 1812 in Ontario
Battles on the Niagara Frontier
1814 in Upper Canada
Military raids
History of Norfolk County, Ontario
May 1814 events