On 13 October 1812 an American army crossed the Niagara River and attacked the British position on Queenston Heights in Upper Canada. It was the first major engagement of the War of 1812. The British general Isaac Brock was killed leading a counterattack, and the Americans who had crossed were later forced to surrender.
The crossing
The American plan was to invade Upper Canada, the British colony that is now Ontario, across the Niagara River. Major General Stephen Van Rensselaer commanded the American army gathered on the New York bank and sent his troops over the river at Queenston, below the heights.1 › Battle of Chippawa, 1814
Once across, a party of American infantry climbed the escarpment and took the British redan battery on the heights from behind. The British commander, Major General Isaac Brock, had been at Fort George, downriver, and rode to Queenston when the American guns woke him.2
Brock's death
Brock led a counterattack up the slope to retake the battery. He was hit in the arm, kept going, and was then shot in the chest and killed. His death was a heavy loss to the British side.3
Command passed to Major General Roger Sheaffe, who brought reinforcements from Fort George. With British regulars, Canadian militia and Mohawk and other First Nations warriors, he climbed the heights out of range of the American guns and attacked. The Americans on the heights broke, and those who could not get back across the river surrendered.4
Why the Americans lost
Only part of the American army had crossed. Van Rensselaer ordered more New York militia over the river, but many refused to cross into Canada. British fire was also destroying boats and turning back the crews. Without reinforcements, the men on the heights could not hold.5
Van Rensselaer gave up his command after the defeat.6
The cost
The figures differ by source. The American Battlefield Trust gives British losses of 21 killed, 85 wounded and 22 missing or captured, and American losses of 100 killed, 170 wounded and 835 missing or captured. Parks Canada puts the number of Americans taken prisoner at 958. The Canadian Encyclopedia says more than 900 Americans were taken prisoner. Treat any single total as an estimate.7
Why it matters
According to the American Battlefield Trust, the defeat hurt American morale and led General Henry Dearborn to drop his plans to invade Canada. The Canadian Encyclopedia describes the battle as proof that Upper Canadians would fight to defend their province. Brock is remembered in Canada as a hero, and the battlefield is a National Historic Site.8
