Description
One of the more controversial battles of the WAR OF 1812, the Battle of Beaver Dams established the importance of the guile, professional soldiering, Aboriginal warfare and luck involved in British victory.
THE BATTLE OF BEAVERDAMS – June 24, 1813
The lead-up to the Battle of Beaverdams can be placed at late May, 1813. The Americans had captured Fort George and the Village of Niagara on May 27, 1813 and the British had withdrawn to the head of Lake Ontario. A week later, the Americans marched on Stoney Creek but were defeated and retreated to Fort George. By the third week of June, the British re-established themselves in the Niagara Peninsula with forward posts at Twenty Mile Creek, Ten Mile Creek and the DeCew House in Thorold. Lieutenant James FitzGibbon was placed in command at the DeCew House with about 50 men from the 49th Regiment and a band of Mohawk warriors from the Grand River.
The Americans, determined to attack the British again, set out on June 22 with about 600 soldiers under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Boerstler to take the outpost at the DeCew House. Leaving Fort George in the early evening, they reached Queenston at 11 p.m. and remained there overnight. At dawn, on the 24th, they resumed their march for Thorold. At St. David’s, they were spotted by Native scouts, who conveyed the warning to Major Peter DeHaren (at Ten Mile Creek below the Escarpment) and to FitzGibbon at the DeCew House. FitzGibbon had already been wanred of the American plan by Laura Secord on the 22nd, but the invaders had not appeared and he relaxed his guard.
