The Battle of Chippewa
By James B. Daniels

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Such discipline is not a question of innate personal courage, but rather the result of demanding, repetitive training. This was the regimen that drew the broad line of demarcation between militia and U.S. regulars in the War of 1812. The regulars’ entire existence was one long attempt to instill discipline. From the demand that every brass button be shined until it gleamed to the requirement that the barracks be kept as clean as a hospital, absolute, unquestioning obedience was what soldiers needed.

That was what Winfield Scott set out to give them. Aggressive, vainglorious and always self-promoting, Scott sometimes seemed to provoke as much conflict with his fellow officers as with the British. Like most of his fellows, Scott had no prior military service or background. Unlike most of his fellows, however, Scott understood the importance of study and professional competence. One of the few bright stars in the army’s otherwise poor performance in the summer and fall of 1813, Scott was promoted to brigadier general in March 1814, the youngest of several new generals appointed to rescue the situation.

Recognizing Scott’s superb skills as a trainer, his commander, Maj. Gen. Jacob Brown, entrusted the training of the entire Army of the Niagara to him, and Scott in turn threw himself into the task with vigor. He first set about personally instructing his officers in the requisite knowledge and then monitored them as they taught their men. No detail of military discipline or camp life was too small to escape his notice and correction. Cleanliness, security, order, military courtesy and custom all received his attention. Understanding the pride of the soldier, he made strenuous efforts to clothe his men in the blue uniforms of the regulars, not the gray wool of the despised militias. Here, however, Scott failed. His trained regulars would have to go into battle dressed in gray.

Scott instilled the strict discipline he knew his men would need to face the hardened British regulars; he did not hesitate to use the harshest measures to stamp out any challenges. When several men deserted, Scott had them shot. Only the youngest was spared, as the muskets pointed at him had been loaded with powder, but no balls. General Brown was so impressed with Scott’s skill that he gave him command of four of the six regular army infantry regiments he had trained. These, along with two companies of the 2nd Artillery, completed Scott’s brigade.

With spring 1814 now nearing its end and the American Army of the Niagara ready for battle, Brown began planning another invasion of Canada. The stakes were high. American defeats on the Canadian border and British cross-border raids had turned New England even more against the war. Leading citizens there were secretly discussing the possibility of secession from the United States and a separate peace with Great Britain.

Unaware of such details, but fully realizing that the United States could ill afford another defeat, Scott led his brigade across the Niagara River and into Canada early on the morning of July 3. By the end of that afternoon they had captured Fort Erie and made prisoners of its 170-man garrison. Brown urged Scott to move forward quickly to get across the Chippewa River before their British rival, Maj. Gen. Phineas Riall, could mass behind it and make a crossing impossible. To Scott’s dismay, his forced march and the running battles it entailed had all been in vain. Riall, who had been warned of the American crossing, was waiting on the north side of the Chippewa on July 4.

Convinced that there would be no action for another day or two, Scott ordered his men to encamp for the night to the south of Street’s Creek, which ran parallel to the Chippewa about a mile and a half south. He proposed a slightly belated Independence Day celebration to be held July 5. After a feast, Scott ordered his brigade to the flat ground north of the creek for a formal review and parade. As his men filed over a small bridge, they looked up to see General Brown galloping toward them. Shouting a warning that battle was about to begin, he raced to hurry along the rest of his brigade, which had encamped along the Niagara River south of Scott’s position. The British had crossed the Chippewa River and were advancing toward Scott in battle formation.

Tags: 17th - 18th Century, American History, Historical Conflicts

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