The cautious and conservative move would have been for Scott to take up defensive positions behind Street’s Creek and await reinforcements. On that day—and over the course of the next 45 years—“cautious and conservative” were words not applied to Scott. He ordered his brigade to form for battle on the north side of the creek. Scott sent his artillery off to the right, positioning it beside the Niagara so that it could not be outflanked, and moved his infantry units into a line extending out from the artillery. They were about to give the British a nasty surprise.

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If Scott was confident, Riall was even more so. As he looked at the invaders across the open plain, he could see their gray cloth uniforms and felt victory was already his; these were merely militia, the men who could not stand up to the first artillery shell, let alone face a bayonet charge by the British veterans. But as he watched his cannon shot tear through the ranks of the Americans, a terrible realization dawned on him. These men were not running away. They were forming ranks and standing steady under the bombardment, waiting for orders to move forward.

“Those are Regulars, by God!” Riall exclaimed. Despite that revelation, Riall pushed on, and the two lines slowly closed the distance between them. As they came into musket range, soldiers halted to fire and reload before moving forward again. Again, Riall’s overconfidence got the better of him. He was so sure of victory that he moved his right flank forward and broke contact with the woods that had been protecting it.

Scott did not hesitate. He sent the 25th U.S. Infantry from the left end of his line forward and to the left. The troops outflanked the end of the British line, then wheeled back to the right and fell on the exposed British flank. Sensing victory, Scott now took one more gamble. He divided the remaining regiments of his brigade into two groups. The 11th Infantry on the left turned to the right while the 9th and 22nd on the right turned inward to the left, opening a small V-shaped gap between the two sections. Riall saw this weakness in Scott’s lines and drove toward it, intending to split the brigade in half. It was the opportunity Scott had hoped for. Riall suddenly found his forces caught in a murderous crossfire of three regiments. Scott’s artillery now added their fire to that of the infantry. It was too much even for hardened British veterans; they fell back leaving the field to Scott and his brigade. British casualties exceeded 500 while some 300 Americans fell.

After a seemingly endless series of defeats and humiliations, the American army had stood up to seasoned British regulars. Not only had the troops stood up, they had also fixed bayonets, charged the “thin red line” and driven it from the battlefield.

As soon as news of the victory on the Niagara reached New England, the mutterings of secession abruptly ceased. Winfield Scott and his American regulars had saved the country and shown what determination, iron discipline and hard training could do. Although the campaign to capture Canada would ultimately fail, the lessons that Scott and the army learned there would continue to reverberate down to the present day.

General Scott’s troop preparation began the transformation of the U.S. Army from a small, semi-amateur frontier force to a professional organization. The U.S. Military Academy at West Point, established in 1802, would soon become the army’s primary source of professional officers. In recognition of what Scott’s brigade achieved at Chippewa, cadets there adopted gray uniforms, a tradition that continues two centuries later. While the national debate over dependence on the regular army versus the state militias would be ongoing for years, the Battle of Chippewa taught Congress, and the nation, the importance of a full-time professional military establishment. More important, it showed all the American soldiers who followed Scott, both regular and militia, what good training, professionalism and discipline could accomplish.

This article was written by James B. Daniels and originally published in the October 2007 issue of American History Magazine. For more great articles, subscribe to American History magazine today!

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