Oswego

On 6 May 1814, British forces launched an assault against Fort Ontario and the nearby village of Oswego, New York, achieving only some of their objectives. This clash formed part of the broader War of 1812.

Background

During the frozen months of early 1814, naval crews on both sides of Lake Ontario labored to construct a pair of frigates apiece, each side hoping to dominate the water once campaigning resumed. Commodore Sir James Lucas Yeo's British forces finished first, launching their vessels on 14 April, yet this edge was temporary. Once Chauncey's American squadron finished its own heavier frigates, the balance would tip decisively away from Yeo.

Recognizing this narrow window of naval superiority, Lieutenant General Sir Gordon Drummond, serving as Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, floated the idea of striking at Sackett's Harbor, New York, the chief American naval base on the lake. Much of the garrison there had already departed for the Niagara River, leaving behind a defense of just 1,000 regulars. Still, taking on a heavily fortified position of that size demanded fresh troops, and Governor General Sir George Prevost declined to supply any.

Faced with this refusal, Drummond and Yeo turned their attention to a lesser target, Fort Ontario. Alongside the neighboring village of Oswego, New York, this fort formed a critical link in the chain supplying American forces from New York. Cannons, provisions, and other materials traveled up the Mohawk River, crossed Lake Oneida, and reached Oswego before making their final push across the lake's southeastern edge toward Sackett's Harbor.

Confident in intelligence suggesting the fort held a mere 290 regular soldiers, Drummond and Yeo also believed that more than thirty heavy guns, destined for the frigates Chauncey was building at Sackett's Harbor, sat waiting within its walls. Seizing Oswego, they reasoned, would let them capture this artillery and preserve Yeo's fleeting advantage at sea.

Attack

Late on the night of 3 May, Yeo's squadron loaded the assault troops aboard and pulled out of Kingston, arriving within sight of Oswego in the early hours of 5 May. Just past midday the men made ready to go ashore, but a wind from the south kicked up and kept Yeo's vessels too far from land to lend covering fire from their guns. As evening fell, a storm forced the squadron to pull back and wait out the night offshore.

By eleven the following morning the ships had come back to Oswego, and the disembarkation finally got underway. Leading the assault was the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Marines under Lieutenant Colonel James Malcolm, joined by a company from the Glengarry Light Infantry commanded by Captain Alexander MacMillan, one company drawn from the Regiment de Watteville, and 200 sailors carrying boarding pikes under Captain William Mulcaster. Four additional companies of the Regiment de Watteville stood by in reserve, with overall command of the landing resting with Lieutenant Colonel Victor Fischer, who headed that regiment.

Facing this force stood an American garrison numbering 242 officers and men from the 3rd U.S. Regiment of Artillery, together with 25 navy sailors and roughly 200 New York militiamen, all under Major George Mitchell of the 3rd Artillery. Mitchell tried to trick the enemy by setting up numerous tents outside the village to make his strength appear greater than it was. Although the fort itself stood in poor condition, the extra time the British delay had granted meant defenders could reposition additional cannon toward the lake, bringing the battery's total to five guns: a single 9-pounder alongside four pieces of either 4 or 6-pounder caliber.

As the frigates Prince Regent and Princess Charlotte turned their guns on the fort, six accompanying sloops and brigs raked the surrounding woods and beaches where the landing would occur. Around two o'clock the British troops finally hit the shore, most wading through water so deep that their ammunition was ruined beyond use. Despite this setback, they fixed bayonets and pressed forward under heavy fire. The Glengarry company worked to clear timber on the left flank of the assault while the sailors pushed toward the village, leaving the bulk of the force to launch a direct assault on the fort itself. American infantry positioned along the glacis retreated back within the fort's walls, and once the attackers gained the top of that slope, the remaining defenders abandoned their post and ran.

Result

Among the spoils claimed by the British were 2,400 barrels holding an assortment of provisions and war material, flour, pork, salt, bread, and ordnance stores. A handful of small schooners fell into their hands as well, among them USS Growler, a vessel with a curious history of having already been taken by the British a year earlier only to be reclaimed by the Americans afterward. Aboard Growler sat seven cannon of great importance, pieces meant for Chauncey's use. The Americans had scuttled her in a rushed effort to keep her from falling into enemy hands, yet the British managed to bring her back up from the water. Fire consumed the fort, the barracks, and whatever stores could not be hauled away, this destruction carried out by Lieutenant Phillpotts of the Corps of Royal Engineers. By roughly four in the morning on 7 May, the British force had pulled back.

Twenty-one additional guns escaped British notice entirely, still making their way toward Oswego and sitting some 12 miles (19 km) off at Oswego Falls. Yeo chose not to send an expedition up the Oswego River after them, opting instead to blockade Sackett's Harbor so the guns could never reach Chauncey. American forces attempted to ferry the weapons onward using launches and small boats, but the effort was intercepted along the way. British marines and sailors followed with a cutting-out attack meant to seize them, but the assault collapsed into disaster, ending with 200 marines and sailors trapped and taken prisoner at the Battle of Big Sandy Creek.

With the guns finally in hand and his squadron properly equipped, Chauncey went on to hold sway over the lake from late July 1814 through the remainder of that year.