After the success at the Battle of York, (despite the loss of General Zebulon Pike), General Henry Dearborn planned for a further invasion of upper Ontario. On May 25 Americans began to bombard Fort George from thier positions along the Niagara River and Fort Niagara. The Americans were using a new technique of cannon fire known as heated shot. Cannonballs would be heated in furnaces until they were red-hot, whne they would be quickly loaded into cannons and fired. Several buildings within Fort George burned down as a result of heated shot. These bombings were highy successful destroying much of the fort's interior. This signaled an imminent invasion against the fort itself. The fort's commander General John Vincent was unaware from which direction the invasion would come and decided to concentrate his forces along the Niagara River opposite the American batteries, figuring Dearborn would use the river defenses as cover for his attack.
The attack, however, did not come along the Niagara River, instead Dearborn landed Winfield Scott and Benjamin Forsyth along the lakeshore. When Scott's forces began landing on the beach, Vincent rushed the Glengarry Light Infantry and the Royal Newfoundland Fencibles to the beach. The Canadians charged the Americans with the bayonet. Winfield Scott had to personally fight off a Glengarry Light Infantry fencer while falling into the water. The American regulars continued disembarking and beat back the attack. Vincent was in a possition to be flanked and his attack had just been repulsed, he quickly decided that Fort George was to be abandoned and withdrew with such haste that women and children were left behind in the fort. The American Niagara River batteried continued to bomb the retreating British. Vincent was so eager to avoid the American landing force at this point that he retreated south to Queenston before withdrawing to the northwest.
The American invasion of Upper Canada at the battles of York and Fort George were a success for the United States. However the results of the overall campaign became more of a raid when the Unites States was defeated in the Battle of Stony Creek and failed to make any further gains on the Niagara peninsula. These American victories did gain naval supplies that were instrumental for the victory of Oliver Perry in the Battle of Lake Erie. It seemed that Upper Canada might fall under American control -- until 1814, when battle-hardened British veterans of the Napoleonic Wars crossed the Atlantic and allowed the province to redeploy troops that had been defending the upper St. Lawrence River.
The Battle of FortGeorge was a battle fought during the War of 1812, in which the Americans captured the British fort on western Lake Ontario.
The fort's commander, General John Vincent, was unaware from which direction the invasion would come and decided to concentrate his forces along the Niagara River opposite the American batteries, figuring Dearborn would use the river defenses as cover for his attack.
Vincent was in a position to be flanked and his attack had just been repulsed, he quickly decided that FortGeorge was to be abandoned and withdrew with such haste that women and children were left behind in the fort.
FortGeorge was a blockhouse surrounded by a palisade, designed by Surveyor-General John Gerar to provide an early warning in case Spanish ships attempted to sail up the Savannah River.
The fort was comprised of an outer picket works, an earthen embankment reinforced with timbers where the artillery pieces were set, and a small guardhouse where the garrison was housed.
On March 2, 1776 the fleet was routed during the battle of Yamacraw Bluff or The Battle of the Rice Boats.
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