At Queenston Heights, the U.S. Army had its first serious encounter with the warriors of the Six Nations of Canada in a major battle. Early in October 1812, American Maj. Gen. Stephen Van Rensselaer had put together 2,500 New York militiamen and 450 regulars from Fort Niagara. The plan was to drive the British forces from the fort and village of Queenston Heights in order to give the Americans a strong foothold on Canadian soil. American troops, both regulars and militia, crossed the river in the early morning hours of October 13 and quickly overwhelmed the small British garrison that was ordered to defend the heights. The American forces soon gained control of both the heights and the surrounding village. The question then was, could they hold it?

British Maj. Gen. Isaac Brock ordered reinforcements to be hurried from Fort George, located about seven miles farther up the river. Indian warriors led by John Norton and John Brant, son of the great war chief Joseph Brant, quickly outdistanced the other reinforcements. Upon arriving at Queenston Heights, they climbed the escarpment and attacked the American troops. Norton took a path through the forest that led almost directly behind the American position. Expecting an attack from the front, Lt. Col. Winfield Scott, who had taken overall command of the American forces when other senior officers had been either wounded or killed, posted only a thin line of men to guard the rear. When Norton's warriors burst from the woods, it was not an advanced guard they encountered but the rear guard, which they pushed back into the main body of the American troops.

Though heavily outnumbered — Norton had only about 150 warriors at the time of the attack — the Iroquois kept the Americans off balance for many hours. Using the tree line for cover, the Iroquois quickly attacked and then disappeared again. Their constant movement gave the American troops the impression that the enemy had far greater numbers than they actually had. When in the open, Norton's men stayed low to the ground, leaving the Americans no open shots. To make matters worse for the Americans, Norton's Iroquois were reinforced by some 80 Cayuga warriors from Fort George.

Norton's flanking movement prevented the Americans from fully securing their position on the heights. The constant harassment by the Iroquois allowed British Maj. Gen. Robert Sheaffe's reinforcements from Fort George and Chippewa to retake the heights from the Americans. Once the British regulars were engaged in the battle, it took less than an hour for them to defeat the Americans, who suffered about 500 casualties and had more than 900 men captured.

Shortly after Queenston Heights, the majority of Indian warriors fighting for the British were moved to Fort Erie, across the Niagara River from Buffalo, N.Y. The American forces in the area appeared ready to launch another assault on Canada, and on May 27, 1813, the invasion got underway, this time against Fort George. Crossing the Niagara River, the Americans landed at Two Mile Creek, where they were met by 100 Canadian Iroquois camped nearby. British Brig. Gen. John Vincent later wrote of the engagement, "The party of troops and Indians positioned at this point, after opposing the enemy and annoying him as much as possible, were obliged to fall back." During the fight at Two Mile Creek a number of Mohawks were killed and wounded.

The American forces had found themselves bottled up in the Fort George area throughout the summer and fall of 1812, unable to gain ground. Desperately in need of light infantry troops, the U.S. Army called on the Iroquois Nations for help to control the area around its entrenched forces. Oneida, Seneca and other Iroquois warriors finally answered the call and gathered along the Niagara in June and July of 1813.

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In late June, 1813, American forces locked horns once again with the warriors of the Six Nations of Canada. At the Battle of Beaver Dams, about 17 miles from Fort George, American Lt. Col. Charles G. Boerstler led the 14th and elements of the 4th, 6th and 23rd Infantry regiments, plus 20 light dragoons, into an ambush — not by British regulars nor even militia, but by Iroquois: about 200 warriors from Grand River under the command of Captain William Kerr and Ah'You'wa'eghs (John Brant), and 180 Mohawks from Caughnawaga and St. Regis under the command of J.B. de Lorimier and French Canadian Captain Dominique Ducharme. Though greatly outnumbered by the American force, the Iroquois controlled the fight from the very beginning. The Battle of Beaver Dams lasted only about two hours. In the end Boerstler — wounded in the thigh — was approached under a white flag by the local British commander, Lieutenant James Fitzgibbon, who bluffed him into believing that he was within minutes of being surrounded by 1,500 British regulars and 700 Indians. Unwilling to abandon his many wounded troops to the Indians, Boerstler accepted Fitzgibbon's terms and surrendered 484 troops to a force less than half their number.

In July 1813, the British made a move that would break the agreement made by the Six Nations in the United States to remain neutral. Taking the offensive, the British crossed the Niagara River, threatening Black Rock, which was the headquarters of the U.S. Navy and had the task of defending Lake Erie and the Buffalo area. The Seneca and other Iroquois in the United States responded by joining forces with the Americans in their war against Britain.

In early July, rumors spread of a pending British attack on Black Rock increased, and as it turned out, the rumors were well founded. Shortly after 2 a.m. on the morning of July 11, a British raiding party of about 400 men crossed the river from Canada. Commanded by Lt. Col. Cecil Bisshopp, the force comprised members of the Royal Artillery and the 8th, 41st and 49th regiments. Members of the Lincoln Militia and other volunteers joined Colonel Bisshopp at Chippewa. They quickly captured the lightly defended Black Rock. It seemed that Maj. Gen. Henry Dearborn, the commander of Buffalo and Black Rock, had withdrawn most of the regulars days earlier, leaving an immense amount of public stores defended by only 200 militia and 10 artillerymen.

Soon after sunrise Major William King rode the two miles from Black Rock to the home of Erastus Granger, the American Indian agent. At Granger's home were Farmers Brother and 37 Seneca warriors. Hearing the news of the British action, Farmers Brother led his warriors through the woods toward Black Rock, while in Buffalo Maj. Gen. Peter Porter mustered militia and regulars. He combined his forces with volunteers from the Plains and Cold Springs who had gathered under Captain William Hull. Taking command of the joint force, Porter led them toward Black Rock to join up with Farmers Brother's warriors. The combined American forces met the British in a conflict that lasted about 15 minutes before Bisshopp ordered a retreat and his troops rushed back to their boats, all but the last of which succeeded in escaping.

After the attack on Black Rock, the Six Nations of the United States officially declared war on the British. Several days earlier, Farmers Brother had said that "the country was invaded, that they had one common interest with the people of the United States, that they had every thing dear at stake, that the time had arrived for them to show their friendship for their brethren of the United States not only in words but in deeds."

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