The War of 1812 in the Champlain Valley

7. A Summer of Setbacks: 1813

7 A SUMMER OF SETBACKS: 1813 The season's first military activity was planned for the area bordering on Lake Ontario, and troops were collected at Sackets Harbor from Greenbush. Plattsburgh. and Burlington for the purpose. During the winter, Dearborn and the new secretary ofwar, John Armstrong, had corresponded concerning the nature ofthe campaignsof1813. Armstrong insisted that Kingston be the prime target so as to destroy the British naval base. At first Dearborn concurred but soon urged that attacks first be made upon FortS George and Erie. on the Niagara peninsula. and then upon Kingston, to which Armstrong agreed. There were to be other changes of plans as Dearborn and Commodore Chauncey plotted their amphibious undertakings. Under the almost superstitious impression that Kingston was nearly impregnable, the two commanders selected as their objective the provincial capital of York. the modern city of Toronto. The campaign was undertaken late in April, under the direct command of newly promoted Brigadier General Zebulon Pike, while the indisposed Dearborn watched from a ship. The town was captured without difficulty. but then an explosion of a magazine took the lives of Pike and many British and Americans. Had he lived. this scholar-explorer would undoubtedly have risen high in military or other public service. After his death. and without effective control from Dearborn. the American troops looted the town, emptied the jail, and burned the capitol buildings before evacuating the area. This needless destruction led to the British burning ofthe government buildings in Washington later in the war. The scene at the hospital after the explosion led Dr. Beaumont to make this gory commentary: "Nothing is heard but the groans of the wounded. and agonies of the Dying are to be heard. The surgeons wading in blood, cutting off arms, legs, and trepanning heads to rescue their fellow creatures from untimely death."1 103 104 THE WAR OF 1812 IN THE CHAMPLAIN VALLEY In May, an expedition was launched against Fort George. Colonel Winfield SCOtt, captured at Queenston and later exchanged, was now Dearborn's chief of staff and took active command of the troops. Although specifically ordered by the president to lead the campaign personally, Dearborn was again indisposed, so that he directed operations from his ship. Major General Morgan Lewis, the quartermaster general, perhaps too critically wrote of Dearborn: "He has been repeatedly in a state of convalescence; but relapses on the least agitation of mind."2 The British general at Fort George, John Vincent, decided that his position was untenable and ordered the evacuation ofFort George as well as Chippewa and Fort Erie at the other end ofthe peninsula . Suddenly the entire British front at Niagara was in American hands. However, in pursuing Vincent, Brigadier Generals William Henry Winder and John Chandler allowed themselves to be surprised and captured at Stoney Creek. Armstrong scolded Dearborn for allowing the British to get away, reminding him that "Battles are not gained when an inferior and broken enemy is not destroyed. "3 Meanwhile, Dearborn had expressed to Armstrong his conviction that if his health did not improve, he would need a chance for his mind to be at ease for (l short time. However, the administration had for weeks felt that a change ofcommanders was necessary and early inJuly, Dear· born was ordered to retire from command pending further orders. Repeat. edly he asked for a court of inquiry into his conduct, but his requests were disregarded. Instead, he was assigned to command a military district where active service was not necessary. Over his strong protests because he had been personally involved, he was assigned to preside over Hull's court-martial. Undoubtedly, Dearborn's replacement as commander of the Northern Army was necessary. Morgan Lewis surmised that he would never be fit for command again. Even Prevost in Canada believed that the American campaign had been ruined by Dearborn's disobedience in attacking York instead of Kingston. Brigadier General Peter B. Porter thought that although Dearborn "had scarcely done anything which in my opinin he ought to have done as a general, yet he was still worth all the other general officers put together."4 Porter touched upon the crux of the matter: who was available as a replacement? Dearborn's age, illness, and personal shortcomings were suf. ficient reason for a change. But his disgrace was also a heavy price to exact for factors beyond his control: his impossibly broad assignment; the difficulties of invasion with green regulars and untrained militia; the obstructionism...