The Battle of Landis Lane ( Eng. Battle of Lundy's Lane ) - one of the battles of the Niagara campaign of the Anglo-American War .
Battle of Landis Lane | |||
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Main conflict: Anglo-American War | |||
date | July 25, 1814 | ||
A place | Niagara Falls , Ontario , | ||
Total | tactical draw; British strategic victory | ||
Opponents | |||
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Commanders | |||
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Forces of the parties | |||
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Losses | |||
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Occurred on the territory of Upper Canada on July 25, 1814 . The battle was one of the bloodiest battles of that war and one of the bloodiest battles in Canada. Tactically, it was a draw and both armies remained on the battlefield, but the American army suffered such serious losses that it had to start a retreat.
Content
Background
On July 3, 1814, the American army, Major General landed on the banks of the Niagara River at its confluence with Lake Erie and immediately captured the British Fort Erie. From there they began an offensive to the north and on July 5 they met three British regular regiments near the village of Chippev. In the battle of Chippev, the regulars under the command of General Scott defeated the British. shortly after the battle, the Americans went around the British defensive positions on the Chippev River and they were forced to retreat to Fort George at the source of Niagara . At this time, the British ships controlled the lake, and the Americans did not have sufficient forces to attack the fort. Brown was waiting for Chancy’s squadron, but she was delayed, and Brown was left without reinforcements and siege guns. At the same time, the British transferred several units to strengthen Fort George [5] .
All July, Brown's army stood at Queston a few miles south of the fort. Here Canadian militia and Canadian Indians attacked them from time to time. On July 24, Brown retreated to the Chippev River to cover up his communications. As soon as Brown departed, the British light infantry and the militia under the command of Major General Rial left the fort and took up a position along the Landis Lane road 6.4 kilometers north of the Chippev River [6] . The first to come to the position was the Glengarry battalion (at 10:00), followed by the dragoons of Merritt, then the 1st and 2nd regiments of the militia and the 19th Dragoons [7] .
Early in the morning of July 25, Lieutenant General Gordon Drummond arrived at Fort George and personally took command of the troops on the peninsula. He immediately ordered the detachment of Lieutenant Colonel John Tucker to go from Fort Niagara to the south along the eastern bank of the Niagara River, hoping that this would force Brown to leave the western bank of the river. In response, Brown began to advance north, suggesting that Tucker would be recalled to defend Fort George. Probably, the Americans did not know that the British were taking large positions with Lindis Lane. Upon learning of the Americans ’offensive, Rial ordered the retreat to Fort George and ordered the detachment of Colonel Hercules Scott to arrive at Queenston and cover the retreat. Drummond reversed the order, and instead transferred additional forces to Landis Lane. The British were just taking their positions when the first detachments of Americans appeared. This happened at approximately 06:00 [8] .
Battle
Lindis Lane was an offshoot of the main road leading along the Niagara River. This branch ran along the top of a small hill, which was about 25 feet above the surrounding terrain and provided good visibility. At the highest point of this hill, the British deployed artillery: two 24-pound cannons, two 6-pound cannons, one 5.5-inch howitzer and a battery of Colgrave missiles .
At the end of the day, the 1st Regular Brigade of the American Army, under the command of Winfield Scott, emerged from the forest into the open and immediately came under fire from the British artillery. Scott sent the 25th Infantry Regiment of Major Thomas Jasap, bypassing the flank of the British position. The 25th discovered an abandoned path and managed to reach the British flank, where he met a battalion of Canadian militia and a light company of the 8th Infantry Regiment . The 25th attacked the enemy and turned it into a random flight. Jasap sent Captain Ketcham's company to the fork in the main road and Landis-Lane, where he captured many wounded prisoners, including Major General Rial, who was wounded in the arm and was driving to the rear at that moment. When Ketchum tried to return to his regiment, he stumbled upon a British detachment and lost all prisoners, but General Riall and Captain Merritt (commander of Canadian cavalry) failed to free themselves [9] .
Jasap's attack forced Drummond to withdraw his center to align him with the left flank and withdraw , which was disturbed by Scott's left flank. This retreat left British artillery uncovered [10] .
Brown's attack
By the end of the day, Scott's team had already suffered serious losses, but Brown came up with the main army: the 2nd Regular Brigade of General Ripley and the Porter Volunteer Brigade. As soon as they changed positions for Scott's brigade, Brown ordered the 21st Infantry Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel to attack and capture British guns. It is believed that Miller replied: "I will try, sir!"
At that moment, when the British were distracted by the attack of the 1st Infantry Regiment from the right flank, Miller deployed his regiment a few meters from the British guns. The regiment gave a volley, which killed almost all the gunners, and then rushed into a bayonet attack. He managed to seize the guns and force the British center to retreat from a height. The battalion of the 89th infantry tried to repel the guns, but was thrown back by units of Miller and Ripley [11] .
At this time, a detachment of Colonel Hercules Scott arrived on the battlefield. Scott's soldiers were exhausted by the march and did not know anything about the situation on the battlefield. They stumbled upon the Ripley Brigade and retreated in disarray, losing one of their 6-pounder guns. The light company of the 41st British regiment beat off the gun, but it was already impossible to use it in battle.
Drummond Counterattack
While the Americans were trying to deploy their own artillery at a height near the British guns, General Drummond, already wounded in the neck by that time, reorganized his troops and decided to attack the altitude in order to repel the guns. Without using his numerous light infantry, he simply attacked the enemy with an infantry line to the front. The attack spilled over into a shootout over a short distance, which caused serious damage to both sides. The Glengarry battalion, which again tried to fire at the left flank of the Americans, was mistakenly fired upon and retreated.
Drummond decided on a second attack in the same style. Some US units fluttered, but Ripley managed to stop them and held the position. By this time Winfield Scott reorganized his brigade into a battalion, which was headed by , and on his own initiative attacked the British center. He came immediately under the fire of the British and under the fire of the Ripley Brigade, which was unable to recognize the Scott regulars. Drummond was driven back, but the Scott battalion fell apart and retreated. Scott went to the Jesup regiment, but was soon wounded.
Before midnight, Drummond went to the third counterattack, gathering all the forces that were at hand. By this time, the British army had turned into a mixture of individual companies, without division into regiments and battalions. The attackers managed to break through to the guns and let the bayonets in, but this attack was repelled. By this time, the moon had gone into the clouds and became so dark that the battle stopped [7] .
Implications
On the morning of July 26, Brown ordered Ripley to pick up abandoned British guns from the battlefield. Ripley strengthened his squad, brought the number to 1,200, and at dawn went to Landy Lane, but found that Drummond occupied a height of 2,200 troops. Ripley did not engage in battle and led the detachment. The Americans retreated, destroyed the British fortifications on the Chippev River, burned bridges across the river and went to Fort Erie. They did not have enough wagons, so they had to throw a lot of equipment and food to make room for the wounded. This gave occasion to Drummond to argue that the enemy had retreated in disarray. The British themselves, after they had buried all the dead, retreated to Kinston and waited for reinforcements.
Losses
The official losses of the British army were 84 people killed, 559 wounded, 42 prisoners and 193 missing. The Americans captured 19 British officers and 150 privates, which means that the British lost 169 prisoners and 55 missing [3] .
Official reports of the American Army, compiled on July 30, 1814, call 171 people dead, 572 wounded and 117 missing. [12] A slightly later version of the report calls the same numbers, but calls only 110 prisoners. According to historian David Graves, the British captured 4 officers and 74 privates who were captured in Quebec in the autumn of 1814. It later emerged that three officers of the 22nd Infantry, who were considered missing (Lt. William Sturgis, John Ker and Robert Davidsoon), were killed on July 25. From all this it follows that the Americans lost 174 people killed, 572 wounded, 79 prisoners and 28 missing. Graves assumes that the disproportion in the loss ratio is due to the fact that the Americans made calculations five days after the battle, when some of the seriously wounded and some of the missing went into the category of the dead [13] .
Notes
- ↑ Graves, 1997 , p. 261-262.
- ↑ Graves, 1997 , p. 257–258.
- ↑ 1 2 Graves, 1997 , p. 173-174.
- ↑ Graves, 1997 , p. 175.
- ↑ Graves, 1997 , p. 104.
- ↑ Graves, 1997 , p. 104-107.
- ↑ 1 2 Anderson, 1840 , p. five.
- ↑ Elting, 1995 , p. 190-191.
- ↑ Graves, 1997 , p. 138-141.
- ↑ Graves, 1997 , p. 145.
- ↑ Anderson, 1840 , p. 7
- ↑ Cruikshank, p. 421.
- ↑ Graves, 1997 , p. 175-198.
Literature
- Anderson, Charles. It is a true and impartial case for the United States. - Niagara: Printed by John Simpson, 1840. - 32 p.
- Barbuto, Richard V. (2000). Niagara 1814: America Invades Canada. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 0-7006-1052-9 .
- Belanger, Jeff (January 2009). Ghosts of War: Restless Spirits of Soldiers, Spies, and Saboteurs. The Rosen Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-4358-5177-1 .
- Borneman, Walter R. (2004). 1812: The War That Forged a Nation. New York: Harper Perennial. ISBN 978-0-06-053112-6 .
- Cruikshank, Ernest A. (1971). The Reputation of the Year 1814 (Reprint ed.). by Arno Press. ISBN 0-405-02838-5 .
- Elting, John R. Amateurs to Arms: A military history of the war of 1812. - New York: Da Capo Press, 1995. - ISBN 0-306-80653-3 .
- Graves, Donald E. (1993). The Battle of Lundy's Lane, On the Niagara in 1814. Baltimore, MD: The Nautical & Aviation Company of America, Inc. ISBN 1-877853-22-4 .
- Graves, Donald E. Where Right and Glory Lead! The Battle of Lundy's Lane 1814. - Toronto: Robin Brass Studio Inc., 1997. - ISBN 1-896941-03-6 .
- Heidler, David Stephen; Heidler, Jeanne T. (September 2004). Encyclopedia of the War of 1812. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-362-8 .
- Hitsman, J. Mackay; Donald E. Graves. The Incredible War of 1812. - Toronto: Robin Brass Studio, 1999. - 428 p.
- Quimby, Robert S. (1997). The US Army in the War of 1812: An Operational and Command Study. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press. ISBN 0-87013-441-8 .
- Whitehorne, Joseph (1992). While Washington Burned: The Battle for Fort Erie, 1814. Baltimore, MD: The Nautical & Aviation Publishing Company of America. ISBN 1-877853-18-6 .
- Wood, William (1968). Select British Documents of the Canadian War of 1812. Volume III, Part 1. New York: Greenwood Press.