Battle of Crysler Farm 1812 Re-Enactmant
The Battle of Crysler's Farm, fought on muddy ploughed fields beside the St. Lawrence River on November 11, 1813, was a crucial moment in the history of Upper Canada and marked the end of the most serious attempt to that time to invade Canada. The campaign of 1813 focused on the St. Lawrence frontier with two powerful American armies poised to meet at Montreal and cut British lines of communications on this lifeline into the heart of the continent. An army commanded by Wade Hampton stood ready to move from the south, up the traditional invasion route of the Champlain Valley, and the other readied itself under the command of James Wilkinson at Sackets Harbor on Lake Ontario, ready to descend the river. The two were to meet at Montreal and choke all British settlements and garrisons west of the confluence of the St. Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers.
Outnumbered but not out-fought
Hampton's army numbered just under 4,000; Wilkinson's close to 8,000, as they prepared to catch Montreal in a pincer movement. Fortunately for the British and both Upper and Lower Canada, they were opposed by small but highly trained - and motivated - armies under the commands of brilliant officers, Colonel Charles-Michel d'Irumberry de Salaberry in Lower Canada and Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Wanton Morrison in Upper Canada. de Salaberry met and defeated Hampton's much larger force at the Battle of Chateauguay on October 26, forcing the southern invaders back on their base in the U.S., from which they eventually retired in disarray. The invasion down the St. Lawrence was to be a much more serious affair. Morrison commanded a 1200-man-strong 'corps of observation' nipping at the heels of Wilkinson's army as it traveled down the St. Lawrence from Sackets Harbor. Aided by William Howe Mulcaster's detachment of gunboats, they harried the invaders as their flotilla of batteaux and smaller gunboats made their way to Montreal.
http://www.cryslersfarm.com/battle.htm
Read MoreOutnumbered but not out-fought
Hampton's army numbered just under 4,000; Wilkinson's close to 8,000, as they prepared to catch Montreal in a pincer movement. Fortunately for the British and both Upper and Lower Canada, they were opposed by small but highly trained - and motivated - armies under the commands of brilliant officers, Colonel Charles-Michel d'Irumberry de Salaberry in Lower Canada and Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Wanton Morrison in Upper Canada. de Salaberry met and defeated Hampton's much larger force at the Battle of Chateauguay on October 26, forcing the southern invaders back on their base in the U.S., from which they eventually retired in disarray. The invasion down the St. Lawrence was to be a much more serious affair. Morrison commanded a 1200-man-strong 'corps of observation' nipping at the heels of Wilkinson's army as it traveled down the St. Lawrence from Sackets Harbor. Aided by William Howe Mulcaster's detachment of gunboats, they harried the invaders as their flotilla of batteaux and smaller gunboats made their way to Montreal.
http://www.cryslersfarm.com/battle.htm
