6 War and the Provincial Marine

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WAR AND THE PROVINCIAL MARINE

As the smAll provinciAl mArine dockyArd struggled to mAintain a serviceable fleet, relations with the United States began to deteriorate. When Lieutenant Governor Peter Hunter died suddenly in 1805, command of military forces in Canada devolved to Colonel Isaac Brock, an experienced British Army officer. Brock had left for England on leave but returned early the next year, arriving in Canada in the early autumn of 1806. Convinced that war with the Americans was inevitable, he began reviewing policies and rebuilding defences that had been neglected. Once again, control of the St. Lawrence River valley and protection of the supply line through Lake Ontario to the west were important issues.1

Brock had considerable knowledge of Canada. As a lieutenant-colonel, he came to Quebec in August 1802 at the head of the British 49th Regiment of Foot. After sending four companies under Lieutenant-Colonel Roger Sheaffe to garrison Fort George at Niagara, he had established himself with two other companies at York.2 Brock would come to know the lake, its geographic features, and the capabilities and limitations of the Provincial Marine. He was present at York when the Speedy departed for the last time in 1804 and would have known many who were lost.

During his review, Brock learned of irregularities in the collecting of fees by the Provincial Marine3 and promptly dealt with it by centralizing control of

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the dockyard, bateau services, and the Provincial Marine within the quartermaster general’s office,4 an early attempt at improving wartime capabilities. As he came to understand that the Point Frederick dockyard was “perfectly open to attack,” Brock ordered training, including in gunnery, for the Provincial Marine.5 Shipbuilding was again underway, and the armed schooner HMS Duke of Gloucester was launched at Point Frederick on May 6, 1807.

In 1809, Sir James Craig, the newly appointed governor-in-chief of the Canadas, learned that the Americans were building an armed naval vessel at Oswego on Lake Ontario. This was the first time the Americans had shown interest in developing a naval capability on the lake.6 While Craig considered Upper Canada destitute of forts that could delay an enemy, he saw Lake Ontario as “a natural ditch” that helped in the defence. The unopposed presence of the Provincial Marine on Lake Ontario had allowed control of the lake to be assumed. With complacency overturned, the governor-in-chief wanted a vessel “of rather superior strength to theirs” built at Kingston.7

Simultaneously, there were efforts to improve security at the Point Frederick dockyard. Major Holt Mackenzie, Commodore Bouchette’s nemesis, was concerned about the difficulty of protecting the Duke of Kent during the winter, when it would be frozen in Navy Bay and approachable over the ice.8 Holt estimated they would need a sergeant and 12 privates to guard the yard, a requirement he could not meet. While the yard fence provided perimeter security on the three landward sides, the beach was open to those proceeding over the ice. The storehouses and any piles of building timber beyond the perimeter fence were also vulnerable.

The potential for hostility with the Americans was beginning to be displayed locally. Andrew Denyke, a Kingston boatman, reported being boarded by a U.S. officer who searched his boat. He had been sailing along the southeast shore of Wolfe Island, clearly within Canadian territory. Soon after the incident, Denyke was hailed by an American revenue collector boat and party of soldiers. He was ordered at gunpoint to accompany them. Denyke refused and sailed on, finally running his boat onto Wolfe Island. The U.S. vessel followed, arrested Denyke, and confiscated his boat. He was taken to the American side of the presumed border. After supper, Denyke was allowed to slip away, cut the cable to the boat, and escape to Kingston.9

In 1810, Brock assumed command of the military forces in Upper Canada. This time he established his headquarters at Fort George, Niagara.

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When he passed through Kingston, he would have inspected HMS Royal George, the newest vessel built in response to the U.S. building program at Oswego. The Royal George was different from the others in one respect — it was the first purpose-built warship made at Point Frederick. Soon after it was launched, on July 22, 1809, tensions with the Americans lessened. The vessel was quickly placed in “ordinary” (in storage). It would later prove itself as a warship, though not an efficient transport vessel.

Brock was promoted to major-general in June 1811. Soon after, the new “Governor General and Military Commander-in-Chief,” Sir George Prévost, appointed Brock to be the “President of the Council” and “Administrator of Upper Canada,” effectively combining the civil and military responsibilities.10 As the threat of hostilities rose again between America and Britain, the need to keep naval control of Lake Ontario came into sharp focus once more. As before, an important issue was the location of the Provincial Marine dockyard. With his appointment as the administrator, Brock now resided at Government House in York. His interest in the dockyard may have been aroused by the loss of the Toronto, which broke up at York in 1811. The Toronto had been used mainly for transporting civic government officials between York and Niagara.

Lieutenant-Colonel Alleyne Pye, the deputy quartermaster general, was directed to study the issue. His report, dated December 7, 1811, reviewed both the state of the Provincial Marine and the best location for the dockyard. Pye explained that the Provincial Marine vessels had been designed to transport soldiers and government stores. They were, therefore, small and of shallow draft, a disadvantage in terms of capacity and ability to sail into the wind. With the Americans producing larger vessels with heavier guns, the British were obliged to also build larger ships. The Royal George was calculated for 20 32-pound carronades but had as shallow a draft as possible. Pye described the usable vessels on Lake Ontario as the Duke of Kent, the Earl of Moira, the Royal George, and the Duke of Gloucester. Earlier vessels were past their useful lives.

Pye noted there was a capable master builder at Point Frederick who lived on-site. But Pye considered the dockyard location too close to the enemy. It was open to attack, and Kingston would be difficult to defend. Pye suggested that York would be a safer and more convenient location for the naval establishment.11 Brock agreed with Pye and recommended that the Provincial

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Marine dockyard move to York, along with all other departments.12 To move the yard, he needed the approval of Governor-in-Chief Prévost.

Captain Andrew Gray replaced Pye as acting deputy quartermaster general. Later described as a “half-horse, half-alligator sort of soldier, sailor, carpenter,”13 Gray wasted no time. When he arrived at Point Frederick, he found the Royal George at the wharf in a dismantled state with its rigging stowed in the sail loft. Carronades that had been delivered the year before were not mounted on this or other vessels, supposedly because of a lack of instructions. Little work had been done on the Earl of Moira, which was being lengthened. Despite the expensive salting treatment, many of the timbers were rotten.

Gray described some of the officers as very inefficient and unfit for their jobs.14 Commodore Steel, then 74 and considered too old for the job, resigned. To replace Steel, Gray recommended Lieutenant Hugh Earl, the next senior officer. He also recommended that the next vessel be built at York, in part because Point Frederick was overwhelmed. Gray pointed out that many of the needed iron components, including rigging and cordage, were already at York, since items could be salvaged from the wreck of the Toronto, still visible on the shore of the Toronto peninsula.15

By March 1812, with war appearing likely, Gray was direct: “The very exposed situation of Kingston renders it an extremely unfit Station for our Naval Establishment upon Lake Ontario.” He noted that during winter, when the ships were dismantled and frozen in the ice, the enemy could attack by marching over the frozen lake. With the ordnance and supplies at Kingston only a day’s march from the United States, the potential losses in equipment could be irretrievable. Communications at Kingston would be cut, and the result could decide the fate of Upper Canada. With the garrison and naval establishment separated by a harbour, the unoccupied high ground “from which alone the Dock Yard can be defended” was also separated from Point Frederick by Navy Bay.16

With Pye and Gray advocating for the Provincial Marine to move to York, and Brock concurring, Prévost approved the transfer in April 1812. But Prévost was characteristically cautious: “I do not propose that it should instantly be carried into effect, but that the removal of the Establishment should gradually take place, by laying out a Naval Yard upon a small scale, and by erecting storehouses at York, to receive the Marine Stores, as the Buildings allotted for them at Kingston fall into decay; unless in the

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meanwhile Hostilities with the United States should make a more expeditious removal indispensably necessary.”17

So that was it. There would be no additional storehouses at Point Frederick, and current buildings would fall into disrepair. A vessel would be planned for York, since the new dockyard was developing. This meant that an already strained workforce with limited materials would be split. Problems would soon accrue at both dockyards. Likewise, splitting the limited assets devoted to defending the dockyards weakened both. As Gray wrote, “At Kingston there is little protection afforded the vessels from the works on shore. Here [York] there is none.”18

News of the U.S. declaration of war on June 18, 1812, reached Kingston in a letter addressed to Mr. Forsyth, a Kingston businessman. Forsyth delivered the letter to the garrison commander, who ordered a drumbeat to arms, anticipating an imminent attack on Kingston. The colonel sent runners to warn the militia, and the flank companies were ordered immediately to Kingston.19

From the Kingston Gazette, dated July 3, 1812:

It is now pretty clearly ascertained that War with the United States is no longer to be avoided. We have been unable, as yet, to procure the official Declaration, although we are informed that it is in town; but convincing proofs to that effect may be seen in our extracts of this day, which places the matter beyond doubt. We must therefore recommend to the attention of every loyal subject, and friend to his King and Country, the dying admonition as if it were, of the lamented and immortal NELSON, “England expects every man will do his duty!”20

When the news arrived, Kingston was a small town of fewer than 200 houses, two churches, one public school, a courthouse and jail, three hotels, and 20 taverns. There was no residential area, and most of the merchants lived near or above their businesses. A few merchants had projecting wharves. The total area of the town was 10 streets. There were no sidewalks, no paved roads, and no streetlights.21 There were no defences against attack from the higher ground to the west.

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The Provincial Marine dockyard had changed little since becoming functional in the mid-1790s. Cart paths and crude mud roads made their ways through trees from the scow ferry landing to the scattered residences of the officers and then to the yard fence, working areas, and stores of timber and stumps west of the fencing. The focus of the yard was the beach, dock, wharf, and slip. Principal access was by water, and the prime docking berth was at the dock near the guardhouse, storehouse, and offices. The rough frontier appearance was likely complemented by wrecks, boats, and offal collecting in the shallows near the head of the bay. The fence surrounding the dockyard had probably been rebuilt the year before.22 Point Henry was forested and unoccupied.

In terms of naval readiness, the Royal George had a fit crew of 17, of 200 needed, and was without rigging or armaments. The Earl of Moira was in poor shape and still needed a refit, also with a crew of only 17, of 80 needed. The Duke of Gloucester was in poor condition and needing repair. The Duke of Kent was no longer sailing and was used to accommodate sailors in winter and as a hospital.23 The only good news was that the Americans were even less prepared.

Brock made a quick visit to Kingston and ordered the trees cleared from Point Henry and a battery constructed on the heights. He gave instructions to build entrenchments and picket palisades and commanded that observation posts and telegraph sites be erected on Cedar, Amherst, Wolfe, and Snake Islands. Brock then directed that earthworks and a battery be thrown up on Point Frederick. Any trees left on Point Frederick were to be cleared. After ensuring Kingston was as ready as possible, Brock sailed west toward Detroit and the first major conflict of the war.24

Prévost soon got clearance for a shipbuilding program and ordered frigates to be built at both York and Point Frederick.25 At Point Frederick, this would be the first warship assembled since the Royal George in 1809, three years prior. With the planned move to York and resources split with the other yard, capacity was reduced. However, the budding York naval dockyard was still able to construct and launch a new vessel on June 12, 1812, HMS Prince Regent, 26 a schooner mounting eight guns. This provided the Provincial Marine with one more small warship. Shipwrights, joiners, sawyers, carpenters, caulkers, blacksmiths, axemen, labourers, and sailors were needed at both yards. Experienced seamen and some shipwrights were found among

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a large draft of reinforcements from the Royal Newfoundland Regiment of Fencible Infantry, which soon arrived. These were sent to Kingston and were vital additions as the Provincial Marine prepared for war.27

The immediate priority was to repair and arm all capable vessels. Lieutenant James Richardson, who had been commissioned earlier that year, recalled later in life that the “little squadron” consisted of the Royal George — 20 guns; the Earl of Moira — 16 guns; and the Duke of Gloucester — 18 [sic] guns. There were smaller vessels doing service as gunboats and transports. Shipwright John Dennis had been ordered back to York to complete the Prince Regent using materials from the scuttled Toronto. 28 Dennis remained in York to continue developing the new dockyard. Richardson admitted that the Provincial Marine was not “much celebrated” for fighting, but it did manage to keep communications open between the Eastern and Western Divisions of the army, to transport men and stores, and to convey prisoners.29

With the arrival in Kingston of the militia and Loyalist volunteers, workers became available, energized by the promise of war. Soldiers were deployed to Point Henry in July to open pathways, clear trees, and construct the blockhouse battery. The battery would take four months to complete but was likely in action with six- and nine-pound guns when the Americans did attack in November. The trees felled at Point Henry were used for construction at Point Frederick. Log-braced earthworks were built and reinforced on Point Frederick and at Kingston’s Mississauga Point.30 Artillery pieces were mounted and manned. Any soldiers or militiamen with seafaring experience were sent to the Provincial Marine to augment the crews.

The only U.S. naval vessel on Lake Ontario at the beginning of the war was USS Oneida, built at Oswego in 1809. At first, it was the only target of opportunity on the lake for any Provincial Marine vessel wishing to fight. With that in mind, Hugh Earl, now the commodore and captain of the fully rigged and armed Royal George, appeared with his small fleet in the early morning of July 19, 1812, outside the U.S. naval base at Sackets Harbor (Sackets). In company with the Royal George were the Earl of Moira, the Prince Regent, and the Duke of Gloucester.

It was a curious proposition. Earl had not been a Royal Navy officer like some others and had not been in battle. His gunners had some training, but most were unexposed to war. Although a talented pilot and sailing master, Earl must have felt some anxiety in exposing himself to an enterprise he had

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not qualified for.31 This also applied to his crew, which was composed of 50 officers and seamen and 64 officers and men from the Royal Newfoundland Regiment,32 a few dozen less than needed to fully crew the vessels.

Earl stopped a merchant vessel he spotted outside Sackets Harbor. He sent the captain back into the harbour with a note, insisting the Americans return the Lord Nelson, a private vessel they had seized before the declaration of war. Earl also demanded the surrender of the Oneida, 33 which was in the harbour. When this did not occur, the small squadron began to shell the harbour, commencing one of the first battles of the War of 1812. The Americans soon replied and later reported that the Royal George was “hulled” several times34 and that eight were killed. With the wind dropping off, Earl withdrew. Whatever their previous experience, Earl and his crew had now been under fire and the Royal George possibly damaged.

Two weeks later, the Royal George was again on the lake, near Kingston, while the Earl of Moira and the Gloucester had slipped down the St. Lawrence River. An American vessel managed to evade the Royal George and also stole downstream where it was engaged by the two British ships. There were no reports of damage.

Meanwhile, at Detroit, Major-General Brock accepted the sudden and unexpected surrender of U.S. General William Hull and his army. This occurred in part because of their great fear of the British Indigenous fighters, a dread encouraged by Brock. With the surrender came the capture of the fort’s stores, supplies, ordnance, and 2,750 prisoners of war. While Brock paroled the American militiamen, sending them home, Hull and 520 regular troops remained prisoners and began the long journey to Quebec.35 The Provincial Marine fleet was dispatched to the head of the lake. By August 29, the Royal George, the Earl of Moira, and the Prince Regent were back at Kingston with Hull and many of the prisoners.36 These were the lucky ones. Some prisoners were transported by bateaux, a long, arduous journey, but still others walked the entire distance to Quebec. As they passed through Kingston, the prisoners were treated kindly and provided with the hospitality of the people they aimed to invade.37

By August 27, Brock was back at York.38 While he expected the next attack to be at Niagara, he used the interval to sail to Kingston, a likely target. He wanted to inspect and review progress on the defences and visit with his former regiment, the 49th Foot. Brock was still in Kingston when hostilities started again on September 4, and he sailed toward Fort George the next day.39

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Brock’s expectation of an American attack at Niagara was realized a few weeks later when U.S. soldiers crossed the Niagara River at Queenston, a village downstream from the falls. Brock was a few miles away at Fort George when he learned of the attack in the early-morning hours of October 18. He mounted his horse and galloped along the portage road toward the sound of firing at Queenston.

After gaining the heights above Queenston village, the U.S. Army seemed to be on the verge of a victory, especially when attempts to dislodge them failed. An attack by Indigenous fighters and a flanking manoeuvre by British regulars and Canadian militia led to another defeat for the Americans. Another 1,000 American soldiers were captured with their weapons. But the cost to the British and Canadians was great.

Dr. Henry Scadding described the scene at York the following day:

The Moira was lying off the Garrison at York when the Simcoe transport came in sight filled with prisoners taken on Queenston Heights, and bringing the first intelligence of the death of General Brock…. The approaching schooner was recognized at a distance as the Simcoe. It was a vessel owned and commanded at the moment by Dr. Richardson’s father, Captain James Richardson. Mr. Richardson accordingly speedily put off in a boat from the Moira to learn the news. He was first startled at the crowded appearance of the Simcoe’s deck, and at the unwonted guise of his father, who came to the gangway conspicuously girt with a sword. “A great battle has been fought,” he was told, “on Queenston Heights. The enemy had been beaten. The Simcoe was full of prisoners of war, to be transferred instantly to the Moira for conveyance to Kingston. General Brock was killed.”40

The scene at Kingston a few days later was one of American prisoners disembarking from Provincial Marine vessels and trudging through the town. They mixed with steady streams of British soldiers, militiamen, contractors, and camp followers who constantly arrived, turning Kingston and Point Frederick into armed camps. Winter was now approaching and the sailing season would soon end. An American attack on Kingston was expected, and work continued

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at Point Henry and on the great wooden palisade and blockhouses that would circle the town to the west and deny the enemy the high ground.

Construction of two sister warships started, one each at Point Frederick and York. At York, there were arguments about where to build the ship, the shoreline being long with shallow depths. When finally resolved, the keel was laid for the planned HMS Brock. At about the same time at Point Frederick, the keel of the intended HMS Sir George Prévost was laid. A third warship, HMS Lord Melville, was started at Point Frederick, possibly on a new slip (Slip No. 2) south of the yard fence.

On the American side of the lake, Commodore Isaac Chauncey had arrived at Sackets Harbor on October 6. Formerly the commissioner of the Brooklyn Naval Yard, Chauncey had been ordered to proceed to Sackets and take charge. He was given unlimited authority to build a fleet on Lake Ontario and gain control of the lake. The U.S. naval dockyard at Sackets had been established the previous year when it was found that Oswego Bay was too shallow. Sackets was located on the rounded east coast of Lake Ontario in a large bay not far from the south channel of the St. Lawrence River. The sailing distance to Kingston was about 37 miles.

Chauncey was impatient to make progress, aware that the Provincial Marine had the upper hand and so far was unchallenged. He began buying merchant schooners and arming them, hoping they could serve as warships. By the third week, guns were arriving at Sackets, and he started to build his fleet. He hoped this would buy him time until he could start his building program, something he well knew from his time in the Brooklyn yard. The program would be abbreviated and aggressive. They would build ships quickly using unseasoned timber, take shortcuts whenever possible, eschew comforts, and complete their vessels with unfinished wood, putting the premium on speed of construction. Unpainted, his vessels would be the colour of bark-stripped wood.

By early November 1812, Chauncey was sailing on Lake Ontario in his flagship, USS Oneida. Still new to the area, he found himself southwest of Kingston where he spotted three Provincial Marine vessels anchored together. Outgunned, he hoped not to be seen. He slipped away, apparently without detection, to the discredit of the Provincial Marine captains and lookouts, if any. But he had been able to view the town of Kingston and the Point Frederick dockyard. Chauncey was learning about sailing on Lake Ontario and about the Provincial Marine.

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A week later, Chauncey assembled a fleet of seven vessels, all but the Oneida being converted merchant vessels now equipped with guns. This was a remarkable four-week achievement. Chauncey wanted to challenge the Provincial Marine before sailing ended for the winter. He had 400 men, 50 marines, and armament that included 12-pound long guns and 24-pound carronades. Sailing northwest from Sackets, Chauncey searched for any Provincial Marine vessel cruising the north shore.41

The following day, the Royal George with Commodore Earl commanding was spotted making for Kingston. Chauncey plotted his course to intercept the Royal George, and eventually his small fleet fell in behind, making slow progress. Commodore Earl, who knew these waters well, brought the Royal George into the Bay of Quinte’s north channel. It was a smart move that informed the settlers in the area to raise the alarm. When the news reached Kingston, drums beat the call to arms. By nightfall, Chauncey had lost sight of the Royal George.

Early the next day, with the wind almost calm, Chauncey again spotted the Royal George. The chase was resumed, but there was only slow movement east, allowing plenty of time for people to gather on the shores and watch the line of naval vessels, all sails out, as they gradually cruised into view. Many wondered if the long-awaited invasion of Canada was happening. Some families panicked, abandoned their homes, and took to the woods with their valuables.42 Over 1,000 regulars, militia, and volunteers manned artillery pieces along the shores. Throughout the morning and into the afternoon, many watched the Royal George sail unhurriedly near the shore. A flying field artillery battery kept pace, firing and receiving fire periodically from the U.S. squadron. A cannonball passed just over the back of the governor’s horse, held by a groom.43 Troops and militia were deployed throughout Kingston, occupying various avenues.

At Point Frederick and Mississauga Point, small batteries had been put up that mounted six- and nine-pound guns.44 At about noon, the Royal George finally came into view of those manning the guns on Point Frederick. After an interval, the U.S. vessels could also be seen, probably to the sound of periodic firing from shore. The Royal George soon drifted into the harbour, then dropped anchor “at the lower end of the town, and between two batteries, one at the upper end of the town on a small point of land jutting into the harbour, the other on the point of the peninsula opposite.”45

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P. Finan, who was then a young but very active son of an officer in the 49th Foot, remembered the day well. As he described it in later years, at around two o’clock, the U.S. squadron sailed down the harbour, apparently unaware of the two recently erected gun batteries waiting for it. The Americans were shooting at the Royal George. The British gunners reserved firing until three or four of the vessels were “just between” them, and then opened a “tremendous and destructive” fire on the Americans, joining the gunners of the Royal George. Finan’s account suggests this portion of the battle was fought at very close quarters.

During the engagement, the Americans concentrated their fire on the Royal George and managed to strike the hull with a 32-pound ball at the waterline. One man on the Royal George, an invalid marine sitting near a gun on the deck, was struck by a cannonball and killed.46 Upon receiving fire, the Americans immediately put about, and while they were tacking, a main boom swung around, knocking the commander of a vessel overboard, where he drowned. Since the breeze was down the lake, the U.S. ships had to tack to withdraw. This meant they approached the shore periodically and were subjected to more fire.

After nearly an hour of fighting, Earl ordered his crew to raise anchor. The Royal George drifted north, farther into the harbour. Earl was not only fighting to save his ship but was leading the action in the full view of his family, the Provincial Marine, and many soldiers, sailors, and citizens on both sides of the harbour, all very close to the action. The ship drifted along most of the length of Point Frederick. With approaching darkness, a change in the wind, and the refusal of his pilot to approach closer, Chauncey broke off. He anchored for the night near Simcoe Island.47

According to the Kingston Gazette of November 17, 1812, the Americans fired on the shore batteries and the Royal George. This account indicates the batteries at Point Frederick both gave and received fire during the engagement, which continued for a few hours, ending after the sun set. The guns at Point Henry reportedly also participated with six- and nine-pounders.48 The following day, the newspaper reported that two U.S. vessels sailed past Kingston on their way to the St. Lawrence River and were fired upon by the shore batteries.

According to Chauncey’s account, the Oneida entered the battle at 3:20 p.m. and drew fire from the batteries. He gave chase to the Royal George and engaged it for one and three quarter hours. Chauncey claimed that shot

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from their guns passed into the town, causing some destruction, and struck the Royal George where the rigging was blown away. He reported that the Royal George had three guns unmounted and took four shots “between wind and water.”49 The Americans had 10 casualties: two dead, eight injured. The British reported one killed but little damage except for the rigging, which was cut up.50

The weather changed. By morning, the winds were high. Chauncey led the small squadron into the open lake, and late in the morning, spotted the Governor Simcoe, the merchant schooner that had brought news of Brock’s death to York. It was running for Kingston. The chase was on again, this time at a quicker pace. Captain James Richardson, Sr., of the Simcoe did not realize at first that the vessels around him were American until they fired at him. Richardson was a very experienced captain, knew the lake well, and began to outmanoeuvre his pursuers. In a running chase to evade the Americans, who fired at least 50 shots at the schooner,51 Richardson’s vessel started leaking, either because it was struck by a cannonball or, as he thought, the hull struck a rock on a shoal. Chauncey reported that one of his vessels, the Hamilton, chased the Simcoe into the harbour to nine feet of depth before hauling off.52 That said, there were no reports that the shore batteries fired.

While there might be doubt about how far the Americans came into the harbour, there is no uncertainty that Richardson’s vessel sank just as it reached shore. Young Mr. Finan described the damage to the Simcoe as between wind and water. Many people who had gathered to watch the second day of action followed Richardson’s remarkable sailing. Numerous people were at the wharf at the upper end of the town when the Simcoe came alongside while in a state of sinking. To help Richardson, a thick cable was fixed to the bow and taken up by the crowd of onlookers, who hauled the vessel far enough onto shore that the forward part of the ship “appeared to be above the surface of the water.”53 The crew was unscathed.

Chauncey then retired to Sackets. He later sent some vessels to blockade Kingston, but they returned during the first week of December. With the Provincial Marine in port until spring, the Americans had technically gained control of the lake as the sailing season ended. During the winter, the construction race accelerated. The results in the spring defined the next phase of the naval war.

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