10 The Shipwrights’ War

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’ conor hAd been AwAy for more thAn A month when he returned in October 1813, just as Kingston prepared to meet the American threat. There were changes in the yard. The most obvious was the start of construction of the two frigates, expected to be the largest warships yet made on Lake Ontario. Construction of the Princess Charlotte, a 42-gun that would be commanded by William Mulcaster, started in early October. George Record had designed her and supervised the 150 workers during construction.1 On the parallel slipway, the Prince Regent, with 56 guns, was taking shape. The Prince Regent was designed by master shipwright Patrick Fleming and John Goudie and was the work of the French Canadians.2

O’Conor had planned the ship construction before leaving in September and was disappointed by the slow progress and condition of the yard. He found that the wharves had deteriorated and the buildings were being neglected.3 As a result, O’Conor was forced to divert some of Record’s shipwrights to other tasks such as erecting barracks and a floating battery.4 With the shortage of artificers a serious problem, O’Conor was frustrated with their “uniformly exorbitant” demands and his lack of bargaining power. He was feeling unequal to the task and mentioned the possibility of resignation.5 It became even more serious when 14 shipwrights deserted.

The missing shipwrights were followed and quickly arrested. They were returned under guard to Point Frederick where they were compelled to sign

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written contracts that bound them to their work engagements. With shortages threatening the completions of the new vessels, a recruiter was sent to Montreal and Quebec to attract more talent. The situation improved when an experienced shipbuilder and 20 shipwrights appeared. Survivors of the defeated Lake Erie fleet, they were ready to work.

Near the end of October, the poor manning situation improved further with the arrival of a naval captain and 350 officers and seamen. Royal Marines began to disembark from Bermuda. Progress on the two frigates was improved, but other kinds of shortages were becoming new problems, like the shortage of iron spikes, which were indispensable. O’Conor was counting on receiving more shipwrights from Quebec to meet the launch deadline. News of the American production of two more frigates at Sackets Harbor prompted the idea of building a third ship.6 As he contemplated a need to crew an even larger vessel, Commodore Yeo again requested more seamen. Guns and stores for the new vessels had not yet arrived.7

One of the major logistical difficulties of building these exceptionally large wooden warships was transporting the guns and anchors. In the winter, delivery of heavy materials from Montreal was improved by having horses and oxen haul sledges over ice roads. In 1813, it was anticipated that Point Frederick would receive 38 24-pounders, 10 18-pounders, and six 68-pound carronades. It was estimated that transporting them would require 200 ox teams and the necessary drivers. Since these were not easily available in Lower Canada, Americans from Vermont and New Hampshire were secretly hired to do the job, at a high price.8

By December 11, Sackets was frozen over and the fleet at Point Frederick was moored. The two British vessels under construction were nearly planked. The fleet’s sails were taken down, dried, repaired, and put into storage. The rigging and upper spars were removed and deposited in the rigging loft. The vessel decks were roofed over where practicable to offer added protection to those living aboard. The ordnance was serviced and some taken ashore to form temporary batteries designed to defend against a winter attack. Some of the crew moved into barracks on shore or into the Duke of Kent.

With the defeat of Captain Robert Barclay and the loss of the Lake Erie supply line, another route had to be found to supply Fort Mackinac and the western outposts. Yeo planned to bypass Lake Erie by developing a supply route through York, Lake Simcoe, and a land portage to Lake Huron. By

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January 1814, proposals were approved to send men to open a road from Lake Simcoe to the Nottawasaga River. They would also build boats for a naval establishment on Lake Huron. It was estimated that 12 men working 10 days could develop the portage road.9 This became the “Nine-Mile Portage” extending from Kempenfelt Bay to the Willow Creek depot near the Nottawasaga River.

By December 17, O’Conor reported that progress on the Princess Charlotte and the Prince Regent was good. In addition, three large gunboats were under construction. The wharves had been extensively repaired. Sheers were erected for mounting masts and loading heavy ordnance. He wrote: “I have great satisfaction in stating the business of the yard goes on remarkably well….”10 O’Conor was still concerned about the availability of wood for shipbuilding, since wood in nearby regions was disappearing. Most of the north shore of Lake Ontario had been stripped of the best timber before the war began.11

Despite the intensity of winter conditions, many officers had more time to pursue leisure activities, especially after ice formed on the bay and snow blanketed the ground. As described later by British officers stationed in Kingston, winter was something to look forward to. Skating was popular on Navy Bay. Those aboard the warships kept moats around the moored vessels to prevent a close approach by the enemy. This interfered with skating. There were also social events. The “Amateur Theatre at Point Frederick” put on the play The Poor Gentleman as a public attraction, featuring its own band. One of Yeo’s captains, Commander Alexander Dobbs, married Mary Cartwright, the daughter of a wealthy citizen. The party is said to have lasted all night and into the morning.12

While the officers were skating, sailors were employed preparing for the active season. In the case of gunners, it was an excellent time for “exercising the men at the guns,” that is, to load, aim, fire, clean, and reload.13 In winter, a target could be set out on the ice southwest of Point Henry and fired upon. As reported in later years, the shot could bounce a long distance on the frozen surface.14

The officers’ mess and quarters were contained in the old Provincial Marine building (see Fig. 3.8). It was here, with a fine view of Navy Bay and Point Henry, that Yeo would sometimes dine with his officers and visitors. One army officer who joined both Yeo and O’Conor described it as a “very snug little mess perfectly organized — their pastry and sweets were equal to

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Farranas.” After a later visit to the “Navy mess,” he added that it was “firstrate one both for style and company — all Captains and select society.”15 It had served the Provincial Marine officers until taken over by the Royal Navy.

It may have been in the mess where a dispute arose between two naval officers during the winter of 1813–14 that led to a challenge to duel. Duelling was going out of fashion in Canada and in Britain and was against regulations and the law. But it still came up from time to time. When Yeo learned of the challenge, he laid out the ground rules. He ordered that the parties occupy sentry boxes placed 80 yards apart, facing each other. They would then be supplied with muskets and 60 rounds of ball cartridges. After firing at one another until all the ammunition was used, and if neither was shot, they could send for more ammunition. Having reviewed the rules while enjoying time with fellow officers, the whole thing was put in a “hilarious light.” The men succeeded in resolving their differences without using up the ammunition.16

By the final week in January 1814, work on the vessels was progressing well, with both vessels framed and planked. Labour on the masts and spars was well underway, and caulking began in mid-February. By the end of February, the 91 carronades and long guns arrived despite the relative lack of snow, a problem that made travel generally more difficult.17

With two large vessels well along, the need for even more sailors remained serious. Complete crews were sent from saltwater Royal Navy ships in Canada. In addition, rigging, armaments, and other items of use were removed from the vessels and transported along the long, arduous route to Point Frederick. With the war against Napoleon winding down, larger numbers of reinforcements became available.18

Wanting information on the U.S. shipbuilding program, Yeo dispatched two intrepid carpenters as spies to Sackets Harbor and Oswego. They returned a month later, in February, and reported that the keels of three new vessels were laid, one with a length of 154 feet. They informed Yeo that contracts were let for the construction of 50 large gunboats. Boat work was also underway at Oswego. There was conversation in the dockyard that preparations were proceeding for a spring attack on Montreal via the St. Lawrence River.19 With the added vessels, U.S. commodore Chauncey was positioned to gain and maintain control of Lake Ontario in 1814.

Fears of an attack on Kingston while the ice was still present on the lake prompted Yeo to place ships to act as gun batteries.20 He knew that the

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Americans completed their vessels quickly and could advance from keel to sailing in weeks. The Americans skipped many of the niceties such as paint to get seaworthy vessels and ordnance on the lake quickly. The Royal Navy was constrained by uniform building designs, standards, and appearance.

Yeo made the important decision in February to recommend construction of an even larger warship.21 He wanted to build a bigger frigate, but its design developed into one of the most substantial warships in the Royal Navy, capable of mounting more than 100 guns. Such a ship, called a “first-rate,” would need a crew of 650 — sailors he did not have. But with this ship, Yeo could command annihilating broadside attacks that would be difficult to oppose or survive.

There was undoubtedly more to Yeo’s decision to build such a huge vessel. His Provincial Marine officers and crewmen probably knew that the waters of Sackets Harbor were shallow, as little as 11 to 13 feet deep. This was a problem shared with other Lake Ontario bays and harbours such as Oswego, York, and Kingston Harbour. While not an issue for smaller vessels, their shallow depths put an upper limit on the size of vessels Americans could build within their harbours. This was not the case for Navy Bay.

The deeper water of Navy Bay provided the Royal Navy an important strategic advantage. But building the ship would require an abundance of ordnance, anchors, rigging, sails, and stores of every type. It would call for immense quantities of wood. And to influence the conflict on the lake, the new ship would have to be completed by July, a tight timeline. Shipping the necessary supplies would clog the route from Montreal and displace other essentials required by the army and populace.

As some of the shipwrights left for Lake Simcoe to build the boats needed for Lake Huron, Yeo made plans to hire every carpenter in Montreal.22 O’Conor expected the two frigates to be ready in the spring of 1814 before the breakup of ice, when the shipwrights could concentrate on the new warship. Yeo learned that Commander Edward Collier at Halifax would lead a detachment of 210 sailors to Kingston, departing in January 1814.23 As the activity in the yard grew, the population of Point Frederick increased to hundreds of workmen,24 supporting an establishment of more than 2,000 sailors and marines.25

Other problems demanded Yeo’s attention. He needed a mast for the Prince Regent, since a suitable one was not available in the yard. The

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mast-maker would have to manufacture one in sections, fastened together with metal hoops. But metal was scarce. There were also shortages of sails, clearly a critical item. Anchors and cables were again requested. And there were continual calls for more men. Advertisements soon appeared in newspapers for more wood, and appeals were made to Admiral Warren in Halifax for more materials that could not be found locally.

Master shipwright William Bell, a very experienced shipbuilder, made the first drawings of the new ship. He worked with John Goudie to make revisions that increased both its size and firepower. As a third deck was added, the design became that of HMS St. Lawrence.26 Bell supervised the construction and mounting of a 170-foot keel27 on the new and largest Slip No. 4. It would absorb the efforts of most of the artificers once the frigates were launched and ready for war. Final preparations were underway at the end of March to launch the two frigates.

The shortage of shipwrights was so serious that a contingent of Point Frederick senior staff travelled to England to recruit more from the navy shipyards. Among the group were storekeeper Edward Laws, master attendant Michael Spratt, master shipwright John Aldersley, blacksmith foreman Moore, and sailmaker foreman Ralph.28 They were successful. On March 27, 1814, they began the long voyage back to Canada with more than 100 shipwrights, blacksmiths, sailmakers, and others in three vessels.

Supplies and reinforcements continued to arrive at Point Frederick, most notably Commander Edward Collier and his detachment on March 22, 1814.29 Ten days later, both the Prince Regent and the Princess Charlotte were ready to launch, their ballast, guns, shot, spars, and rigging arranged on the wharf. Three new gunboats were ready, and the older vessels were refurnished, modified, rearmed, and standing by. At this time, Yeo received the welcome news that he would get a battalion of Royal Marines to serve on board his fleet,30 as well as 900 more sailors.31

Meanwhile, the other vessel construction carried on. The army wanted lighter, faster transport vessels that would improve the speed of communications on the lake. A lightly armed small schooner was planned to be built next to HMS St. Lawrence. In addition, new prefabricated vessels were sent from England. The frames for these vessels had already been built at the Chatham Dock Yard. They were disassembled into sections that could be transported to Halifax and then to Point Frederick. Although several of these

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ships were constructed and sent, only one reached Lake Ontario, becoming HMS Psyche.

32

Writing in his journal on April 3, Lieutenant John Le Couteur described Navy Bay as still frozen. It was now dangerous to walk across because of the threat of breaking through the ice. He noted that the two frigates were nearly complete. A week later, presumably as the ice was fracturing, he awoke and noticed the Sir Sidney Smith “floating out of the harbour in a large cake of ice.” The Beresford sailed after it and brought the vessel up about half a mile from the bay. The next day, both the Wolfe and the Melville were released from the ice. Soon after, the Beresford sailed unchallenged to the head of the lake with a grenadier regiment, detachment of rocketeers, rockets, cannons, swords, and pistols.33

Le Couteur wrote about Navy Bay as follows:

The harbour and Lake begins to wear a European Aspect while the now full-rigged ships enliven it and form a bright contrast to the miserable appearance they had while unrigged and laid up in ice bergs like ill-shapen block houses. They would have been ugly customers to attack with their jolly crews to defend them — batteries a fleur de glace.34

On April 14, 1814, in a steady drizzle, all was ready for the launch of the two newly built frigates. But the event was delayed due to a problem on the slipway of the smaller vessel. Captain Stephen Popham invited the large group of ladies and gentlemen to the officers’ mess where they enjoyed a nice lunch. Late in the afternoon, the blocks were knocked away and the Princess Charlotte, with Captain Mulcaster standing on board, glided down the slipway and splashed into Navy Bay. It was soon brought alongside. A half-hour later, the Prince Regent, a 56-gun warship and Yeo’s new flagship, slid down and into Navy Bay to join the smaller ship alongside as workers began to prepare them for war.35

Yeo made O’Conor his flag captain, and within two weeks, both vessels were provisioned, armed, rigged, and sitting at their moorings near the new gunboats. O’Conor reported on the state of the St. Lawrence located on Slip No. 4: “Moulds made, keel laid, stem and stern nearly finished, dead wood made, four frames made and timber finished for ten frames.”36

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Two weeks later, a message reached Point Frederick announcing Yeo’s appointment as “Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty’s Ships and Vessels Employed on the Lakes,” effective May 1, 1814. This organizational change made him independent of army command, vastly expanding his powers. It also meant that the Provincial Marine vessels were now integrated into the Royal Navy. To avoid conflict with the names of other Royal Navy vessels, a number of changes were made. The Earl of Moira became HMS Charwell, the Royal George became HMS Niagara, the Beresford became HMS Netley. And the Lord Melville became HMS Star. And Yeo’s flagship Wolfe became HMS Montreal. The Sir Sidney Smith was renamed HMS Magnet. Also, the Kingston Point Frederick dockyard now became a separate establishment,37 as did each of the vessels. Yeo soon hoisted his commodore’s broad pennant.38

The firepower of the squadron far exceeded that of the previous year. But the Americans were also improving their capabilities at Sackets Harbor, building their unpolished but lethal warships at a remarkable pace. Yeo remained concerned about the balance of strength between them but was determined to beat Chauncey in a straightforward fight if he could. If he could not in his judgment win such a fight, he would play “cat and mouse” until the St. Lawrence was ready.

After a delay in receiving “ring bolts” for the cannons,39 Yeo’s squadron departed Navy Bay on May 4, 1814, to commence the fighting season. Aboard the vessels were 900 soldiers and Royal Marines who were intent on paying a visit to Oswego. Yeo ordered a thunderous salute as they left the harbour.40 With the wind very light, they remained within sight of Point Frederick throughout the day.41

The fleet was gone nearly four days. At times, the sound of heavy gun firing could be heard from across the lake. When the Netley (Beresford) came in sight of Point Frederick at 5:00 p.m. on May 8, the U.S. flag was flying below the broad pennant, a signal of victory.42 Some of the ships had battle damage, especially the Montreal (Wolfe), which was hit three times with hot shot and burned, its rigging shot up.43

Captain Popham was injured and so was James Richardson, the young Provincial Marine officer who had been retained by the Royal Navy and used by Yeo as a pilot and sailing master. Richardson’s left arm was shot away, and the joint was amputated by the surgeon at the scene. But spirits were high. The British vessels were filled with stores and ordnance captured at Oswego.

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The raid had captured supplies needed by the Americans at Sackets and were in short supply at Point Frederick. The British had won 800 barrels of flour, 400 of pork, 600 of salt, 500 of bread, 70 coils of rope, tar, ammunition, shot, and ship’s blocks.44 They also brought back three captured schooners as prizes.

There were a total of 90 British casualties.45 Seven of the marines were killed and 33 wounded. Captain Mulcaster, who was leading the charge, was shot through his upper leg, and at first was thought unable to survive. The Point Frederick hospital was still unfinished, so those with severe injuries were treated on board their own vessels, the Duke of Kent, or at the temporary naval hospital in Kingston. The Point Frederick hospital records, which start on May 4, 1814, show that at least two Oswego casualties were the first patients admitted.

By May 11, reprovisioned and with battle damage repaired, Yeo’s fleet was again underway. After a week of raids along the south coast of the lake, and with no indication of an appearance of the U.S. fleet, Yeo returned briefly to Point Frederick. He embarked once more and began a blockade of Sackets Harbor, hoping Chauncey would come out and fight. While he waited, Yeo detached the Charwell (Earl of Moira), the Netley (Beresford), and two of the schooners to the head of the lake, with supplies and reinforcements for the 103rd Regiment. Although he continued to need skilled seamen, Yeo was in control of the lake. He knew that his advantage could be short-lived, given the building program now underway at Sackets.

Things abruptly changed in early June when Yeo received the news of the defeat and capture of three of his gunboats. In addition to the boats, the losses included 220 marines and sailors, nearly the entire crews of the Montreal (Wolfe) and the Niagara (Royal George). They had left the warships to engage in an unsuccessful river raid and fell into an ambush. Yeo was livid, although it was the kind of tactic he had used in the past. The losses were the single greatest experienced by the Royal Navy on Lake Ontario and occurred at an unfortunate time.46 But he still had the two warships — the Montreal and the Niagara.

On June 5, Yeo positioned his squadron near Amherst Island west of Kingston. While there, he received news of the arrival of the next Royal Navy detachment, thereby solving his problem of crew shortages. Yeo also learned that O’Conor was confirmed as commissioner and removed as flag captain

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of the Prince Regent so he could concentrate on the building program and development of the yard.

When he returned to Navy Bay on June 13, Yeo met with LieutenantGeneral Sir Gordon Drummond, the army commander. They determined to reinforce the Niagara Peninsula, both correctly predicting that the Niagara region would be the location of the next conflicts.

After the successful reinforcement and supply mission, Yeo returned to Navy Bay on June 24.47 With signs of an imminent strengthening of the American fleet, Yeo prudently lifted the Sackets Harbor blockade and returned to Navy Bay. From his office ashore, he could see the massive wooden frames of the St. Lawrence rising on Slip No. 4. There had never been anything like it on fresh water. The ship was comparable to the greatest sailing “first-rate” warships of the Royal Navy, for example, HMS Victory, flagship of Lord Horatio Nelson. The St. Lawrence was longer at the keel than the Victory (194 versus 151 feet) but similar in width (52 feet). Construction of such a massive and powerful vessel on a freshwater lake took incredible resources.

The scale of the project can be compared to the building program of HMS Victory. The smaller Victory required 6,000 selected mature oak trees, which if grown together in a forest would have covered 100 acres. Single pieces of wood of peculiar shapes were needed for certain parts of the ship, such as sections of frame and the stern post. Knees and clamps made of shaped single pieces of oak were critical. Single-piece oak had to be chosen to build the wing transoms. Seven large mature elm trees were utilized for the keel. Large quantities of lighter woods, such as elm, pine, and fir, were necessary for the deck, masts, and yardarms.48 While there was no shortage of wood in Upper Canada, the appropriate pieces were scattered in the forest and remote from Kingston.

The St. Lawrence also demanded much that was unavailable in Canada, items that had to be shipped from England. The St. Lawrence needed more than 100 cannons. Mast extensions of giant pines required iron hoops and hundreds of yards of rope. Like the Victory, the St. Lawrence needed miles of rigging and acres of sailing cloth for 37 different sails and spares, not to mention two tons of iron spikes and copper nails for the deck and 26 miles of rope for the anchors, the largest being 19 inches thick. If it was like the Victory, the St. Lawrence would have required seven anchors, the biggest weighing four tons. Completing work on the Victory had employed no fewer than 250 men.49

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Chauncey thought that building one of “these vessels” would take “six hundred ship carpenters, sixty-five joiners, one hundred and twenty sawyers, seventy-five blacksmiths, twenty-five block and pump makers, fifteen carriage makers, ten armourers, and five tinners. Special shops, storehouses, and wharves must be constructed and a ropewalk established with machinery to lay cables twenty-four inches in diameter.”50

The St. Lawrence was built over a much shorter time than the Victory and certainly involved no fewer than 250 workers. Many of these men were the same French-Canadian and British civil establishment artificers who had built the two frigates. Additional skilled people made their way from England. The whole of the 104th Regiment was sent to Point Frederick to work on the ship, considered by them a compliment to the regiment, since the vessel would mount 104 guns!51

After a rough trip from England, Thomas Mossington arrived at Quebec. Some weeks later, on June 23, he came to Point Frederick under escort of the Royal Artillery in a gunboat. With him were the British artificers who had been recruited from the naval yards in England.

Mossington described his first day when he wrote that “we arrived at Kingston at 5:00 o’clock in the afternoon where we found a three deck ship in the stocks in frame, only one tier of x spalls at her main breadth 4 inches thick about 12 strakes of her bottom worked for which the Canadians were getting £12 a strake. It was 3½ white pine except the fore and after shifts which were oak and all nailed.”52

In addition to the contingent of British artificers, the naval storekeeper at Quebec, acting for the Point Frederick dockyard, was able to hire another 150 French Canadians, some of whom had been part of Goudie’s earlier group. The agreement was for only six weeks, enough to complete the St. Lawrence.

53 In September, yet another 85 men arrived from the English shipyards.54

As spring turned to summer, Commodore Chauncey was mysteriously slow to claim the lake, even though the USS Pike gave him the advantage. His failure to appear at Niagara greatly frustrated Major General Jacob Brown, the U.S. commander who had taken Fort Erie. Brown’s plan was to march north toward Queenston and Fort George. Once there, he intended to meet Chauncey’s ships to obtain supplies and reinforcements. He hoped to take back Fort Niagara and Fort George, which were held by the British, and advance toward Burlington and York, but he needed naval support. Brown

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placed himself on Queenston Heights and watched for Chauncey. With no sign of the commodore by mid-July, he returned to Fort Erie in exasperation.55 Part of the holdup was certainly due to Chauncey’s illnesses, but it was also the result of the commodore’s hesitation to delegate command.

Expecting Chauncey on the lake, Yeo kept his large warships near Kingston. He was waiting for completion of the St. Lawrence, which would give him the advantage and perhaps win the war. Yeo was not going to risk losing his fleet, either on the lake or in port, due to an attack. He employed more than 500 sailors in the yard, although regular “call to action” and gun drills also occupied much of their time. Yeo also dispatched manned gunboats into the St. Lawrence River to protect the supply line. Without his fleet on the lake, he had to be innovative, sending his schooners Netley, Vincent, 56 and Magnet 57 to the head of the lake where they could supply the army from York. Bateaux and small boats would move supplies along the shoreline from Kingston to York.58

Chauncey finally emerged from Sackets Harbor on July 31 with two new and powerful frigates that were more than a match for the Royal Navy. While proceeding to the western end of the lake, two of Chauncey’s ships caught the Magnet and engaged in a brief fight. The Magnet was run ashore, scuttled, and burned with the loss of all stores. Chauncey soon turned his fleet east and had his squadron before Kingston on August 10, prepared to fight.

From his flagship, Chauncey could observe the yard, although his view of the St. Lawrence was obscured. Yeo, his staff, and the officers of the Point Frederick battery were looking back. They would have seen four U.S. Navy ships bristling with men and guns, lingering impatiently outside the harbour. After a few hours, with no sign that Yeo was coming out to meet them, Chauncey withdrew but continued his blockade from a distance.59

A measure of how much had changed in the dockyard by 1814 comes from the war journal of Lieutenant David Wingfield, who had been captured by the Americans in October 1813 and exchanged to Point Frederick a few months later on July 15, 1814. When he arrived at Point Frederick, Wingfield reported to Yeo’s residence. He found Yeo ill but able to rise from his sofa. Of the yard, Wingfield noted that “vast alterations had taken place since we left the country; two new ships launched, one mounting 68 guns, and the other 44, one on the stocks in a great state of forwardness intended to carry 110, and a spacious dockyard, with every convenient storehouses, and a great number of new faces among the officers who had arrived from England….”60

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At the end of August, with the launch date of the St. Lawrence looming, word arrived that the British supply of provisions at Niagara was barely enough to last a month. This was a surprise and was partly due to congestion along the St. Lawrence River caused by the glut of supplies for the St. Lawrence. The army at Niagara was potentially facing starvation. Every means, short of Yeo deploying his fleet, was attempted to relieve their distress.61 In the face of considerable criticism, Yeo held firm to a tactic he probably knew would succeed if he remained patient. Convinced that the Americans could not match his great-frigate building program, he would win if he waited for the deployment of the St. Lawrence.

With the British Army suffering a string of defeats in Niagara during August 1814, Yeo continued to resist pressure to return to the lake, instead dispatching brigades of bateaux and escorting gunboats. Soldiers reinforcing the armies at Niagara were compelled to travel in open boats that they rowed along the north shore to York.62 Meanwhile, Chauncey’s vessels finally got control of Yeo’s schooner transports, the Charwell (Earl of Moira), the Netley (Beresford), and the Vincent, by blockading them at Niagara after their supply run.

On September 10, 1814, after five months of construction, the St. Lawrence moved down the great slipway and into Navy Bay. The ship was secured alongside, and the riggers, mast-makers, and carpenters crowded aboard to prepare the ship for battle. Chauncey was probably immediately aware of the event and fully understood the implications. He brought his four ships to position just outside Kingston Harbour where they raised their flags, inviting Yeo to fight. Chauncey had plenty of time to inspect the Kingston defences during the wait.63 The British, who were aboard their ships and prepared, turned their vessels to present broadsides to the Americans and waited. The wind was blowing northward, and Chauncey moved to just out of gun range, then fired his guns in defiance.64

While the St. Lawrence was preparing to sail, the shipwrights quickly readied the blocks to build the next vessel, the prefabricated ship that would be known as HMS Psyche. As Mossington put it, they “got the ship launched on the 10th September 1814. The frame of the frigate arrived here on the 13th September.”

The launching of the St. Lawrence was captured in a remarkable contemporary painting that allows us to appreciate some of the excitement of the

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Fig. 10.1: An

unattributed painting shows the St. Lawrence just before it was launched into Navy Bay. While the crowds are not shown to be large (it was drizzling on September 10, 1814), there is much described in the image.

Fig. 10.2: Some of the details suggest actual events and people. For example: (1) the man on horseback with companion standing near; (2) possibly Captain William Mulcaster, who had been shot through the hip at Oswego; (3) two sailors or shipwrights cut the tether while a third greases the slipway; (4) a band plays; and (5) families.

1 2 3

4 5

day (see Fig. 10.1). The vantage point matches with an upper-floor window of the mould loft immediately north of the site. The slipway still exists and can be seen in an aerial photograph presented previously in Fig. 8.1. A bateau and ships’ boats are pulled up on shore. The foreground of the painting is the location of today’s RMC Senior Staff Mess.

Fig. 10.2 isolates some details in the painting. We see a senior redcoat officer on horseback and another adjacent, perhaps James Yeo and George Prévost (1), the latter present in Kingston. There is a senior officer on crutches,

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possibly a tribute to Captain William Mulcaster, who was shot in the legs at Oswego but not likely present (2). There are shipwrights cutting the weak link and another near the cradle, maybe applying tallow (3). A band is playing (4) and there are families and workers, conceivably from the shanty village (5).

Chauncey and his fleet left the Kingston area the next day. He returned to Sackets, where Major General George Izard’s army waited, still uncertain of its next step. Chauncey and Izard discussed an earlier plan to immediately attack Kingston, but with the benefit of Chauncey’s recent inspection of the Kingston defences, they rejected the plan as “extremely doubtful.”65 That decision made, Izard’s 4,000 men went aboard Chauncey’s ships and were transported to the Genesee region, where they arrived on September 22. Their plan was to join forces with Major General Brown at Fort Erie and invade Upper Canada.

Having unloaded Izard’s army, Chauncey sailed east again. Knowing that HMS St. Lawrence would not be ready to sail, he returned to Kingston on September 29. The Americans once more raised their flags, hoping to lure Yeo out to fight. When Yeo did not respond, Chauncey withdrew and sailed onto the lake, which he would control for just one more week. Later, when Chauncey realized the St. Lawrence was ready to sail, he headed back to Sackets Harbor, where he anchored on October 7.66

By October 13, Izard’s army joined with Brown’s forces in Canada near Fort Erie. Izard, the senior officer, took command of the whole. He began moving north toward Chippewa, leading “the most efficient army the United States have possessed during this war.”67 By one account, the strength of his army was nearly 8,000 troops, including mounted and dismounted dragoons and light artillery. Yet another 750 mounted men, under General Duncan McArthur, were intent on assisting Brown by attacking Burlington after terrorizing the country.68

HMS St. Lawrence sailed from Navy Bay on Sunday, October 16, leading the Prince Regent, the Princess Charlotte, the Montreal (Wolfe), and the Niagara (Royal George). After clearing port, Yeo ordered two hours of gun drill. He found that the vessel handled well.69 This was the zenith of British naval power on the Great Lakes, an image that would never be repeated. The fleet sailed west toward Izard. Hugh Earl, the former commodore of the Provincial Marine, was likely watching from his home in Kingston. Of particular significance was the presence in the fleet of the Niagara, the former

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Royal George, which had been built by the Provincial Marine in the old dockyard and was sailed by Earl into one of the first battles of the War of 1812.

On the same day the St. Lawrence sailed, Izard wrote:

I have just learned by express from Sackets Harbor that Commodore Chauncey, with the whole of his fleet, has retired into the port, and is throwing up batteries for its protection. This defeats all the objects of the operations by land in this quarter. I may turn Chippewa, and should General Drummond not retire, may succeed in giving him a great deal of trouble, but if he falls back on Fort George or Burlington Heights every step I take in pursuit exposes me to be cut off by the large reinforcements it is in the power of the enemy to throw in 24 hours upon my flank or rear.70

Lieutenant-General Drummond, who was commanding at Niagara, wrote two days later that “about 1 o’clock on the 17th his troops had disappeared…. The cause of this retrograde movement of the enemy I have not yet ascertained.” He added that a “report from Fort George of the fleet (five sail) being in sight reached me at noon today.”71

Yeo’s fleet reached the Niagara River on October 20, 1814. The St. Lawrence and the Prince Regent had been struck by lightning during the voyage, causing mainmast damage. Seven were killed and 22 wounded, all hands being “knocked down” on the quarterdeck by the concussion.72 Working in bad weather, the sailors put the stores and reinforcements ashore. By October 24, in full control of Lake Ontario and with fair winds, the St. Lawrence was back at Navy Bay to drop off troops and pick up reinforcements.73

Yeo’s priority was to bring supplies and reinforcements to the army at Niagara, but he wanted to protect his advantage by ensuring his fleet was securely in port before the winter freeze. On the same day, most of the occupying U.S. Army left Upper Canada, determined to march to Sackets and winter quarters. On November 5, the Americans destroyed Fort Erie and withdrew to Buffalo, ending the longest and bloodiest battle of the war.74

Sir Robert Hall, who 18 months before had been appointed commissioner, finally reached Point Frederick in October 1814, just as the St. Lawrence was ending the war on Lake Ontario. Captain O’Conor handed over the job

the shIPwrIghts’ wAr

of commissioner to Hall and departed for England to command a first-rate warship, a reward for his remarkable achievements.

Hall took charge of building the next frigate, HMS Psyche, with the keel laid on October 16,75 probably on the vacated Slip No. 4. The notion of prefabricated ships was much criticized and even mocked over the years, since Upper Canada had plenty of wood. However, for the first time the process brought selected and properly seasoned wood into the construction of a Royal Navy ship on Lake Ontario. The Psyche, a 56-gun frigate, was completed in a record five weeks. It later served as a transport and might have outlasted all other vessels if properly maintained.

Yeo’s priority was now to bring supplies and reinforcements to the army at Niagara. He sailed once more for Niagara on November 1, transporting 1,200 fresh troops. By this time, the Kingston defences were complete and secure, with six blockhouses manned and “stout picketing” surrounding the town plus the gun batteries.76 Battling bad weather, Yeo was able to unload the soldiers at Niagara, then sailed to the protection of York, where he waited for 1,100 other troops to transport to Kingston. The St. Lawrence finally anchored at Navy Bay on November 10, and preparations began immediately for winter. This satisfied his other priority to protect his advantage by assuring his fleet was securely in port before the winter freeze.

Yeo soon had another addition to his fleet when the Psyche moved down the slipway into the unfrozen Navy Bay. According to Thomas Mossington, they

got her launched on Christmas Day after having in vain endeavored to do it the day before, owing to the intense cold which had froze the tallow and soft soap to the consistency of putty or half kodo glue, and all our efforts, with the assistance of 500 seamen and Marines, clapped on large tackles could only start her about 65 feet down. We were obliged to cut out the bilge ways, scrape off the tallow and ply it with oil called coal oil, which caused her to glide into the native element with the greatest facility.77

The next day, the keel of another ship, an 80-gun frigate, was laid down. A few weeks later, an additional keel went down on the adjacent slip for a second frigate. In view of news of more shipbuilding at Sackets Harbor, Hall

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and Yeo did not relax. They had the plans for the two new frigates revised to be two more first-rates similar in size and capability to the St. Lawrence. The building became more frantic and reached a peak during the winter of 1814–15. The new vessels were named HMS Canada and HMS Wolfe.78

According to historian John Spurr, writing in 1981, it “is difficult today to visualize the state of the yard in this winter of 1814–15. It teemed with hundreds of workmen, and its storehouses and, in fact, almost all of its few acres, were crowded with building materials, equipment, or ordnance and ammunition, and technical and consumer stores and supplies, much of the bulk stockpiled in the open, protected, if it all, by tarpaulins.”79

By January 13, 1815, the ice had frozen as far as Wolfe Island, and some of the soldiers were skating around ice-bound ships in Navy Bay. Desertions still occurred, even though the penalty in wartime could be death. The frozen lake was a tempting avenue of escape, but the ice could be unpredictably unstable. One attempt to cross resulted in the deaths of three soldiers who drowned.80