The Engagement on Lake Huron was actually a series of minor engagements, which left the British in control of the Lake, and thus of the Old Northwest for the latter stages of the War of 1812. The War of 1812 was fought between the United States and British Empire from 1812 to 1815, on land in North America and at sea around the world. ... August 13 is the 225th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (226th in leap years), with 140 days remaining. ... This article is about the day of the year. ... 1814 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... The Great Lakes from space; Lake Huron is the third from the left. ... Miller Worsley (July 8, 1791 - May 2, 1835) was an officer in the Royal Navy, best known for serving in the Engagement on Lake Huron in the Anglo-American War of 1812. ... Commodore Arthur Sinclair (died 1831) was an early American naval hero, who served in the U.S. Navy during the Quasi-War with France and in the War of 1812. ... George Croghan (15 November 1791 - 8 January 1849) was born in Locust Grove, Kentucky and died in New Orleans, Louisiana. ... The Battle of Tippecanoe was a decisive victory by United States forces led by then-Governor of the Indiana Territory William Henry Harrison over the forces of Tecumsehs growing American Indian confederation. ... The Battle of Maguaga was a small battle fought between British troops, Canadian militia and Tecumsehs natives against a larger force of American troops in Maguaga, Michigan. ... Combatants Potawatomi United Kingdom United States Commanders Chief Blackbird Nathan Heald Strength 500+ 69 military + civilians Casualties 15 39 military + 27 civilians The Fort Dearborn massacre occurred on August 15, 1812 near Fort Dearborn in the United States during the War of 1812. ... Combatants Britain United States Commanders Isaac Brock William Hull Strength 100 regulars 300 militia 150 natives 2,500 Casualties None 2,500 captured For the 1763 action in Pontiacs Rebellion, see the Siege of Fort Detroit The Siege of Detroit, also known as the Surrender of Detroit or the... The Battle of Fort Harrison was a decisive victory for the United States against an Indian force which greatly outnumbered their own. ... The Siege of Fort Wayne took place during the War of 1812, between American and Indian forces in the wake of the successful British campaigns of 1812. ... The Battle of the Mississinewa also known as the Battle of Mississineway was an expedition ordered by William Henry Harrison against Miami villages in response to the attacks on Fort Wayne. ... Combatants Britain American Indians United States Commanders Henry Procter Tecumseh James Winchester Strength 200 regulars 300 militia 450 natives 1,000 regulars and militia Casualties 182 killed or wounded 958 killed, wounded or captured {{{notes}}} The Battle of Frenchtown also known as the River Raisin massacre, was a severe defeat... The Siege of Fort Meigs took place during the War of 1812 in northwestern Ohio. ... The Battle of Fort Stephenson was an American victory during the War of 1812. ... Combatants United Kingdom United States Commanders Robert Heriot Barclay Oliver Hazard Perry Strength 6 warships 9 small warships Casualties 41 dead 94 wounded 6 ships captured 27 dead 96 wounded 1 ship lost The Battle of Lake Erie, sometimes referred to as the Battle of Put-in-Bay, was fought... Combatants Britain Tecumsehs confederacy United States Commanders Henry Procter Tecumseh † William Henry Harrison Strength 800 regulars 500 natives1 2,380 militia 1,000 cavalry 120 regulars 260 natives1 Casualties 155 British dead or wounded 477 captured 33 natives dead 15 dead 30 wounded {{{notes}}} The Battle of the Thames... The Battle of Longwoods was a battle of the War of 1812 on March 4, 1814, fought near present-day Wardsville, Ontario. ... Combatants British Empire United States Commanders Robert McDouall George Croghan Andrew Holmes† Strength unknown 700 Casualties 1 dead, 1 wounded 13 dead, 51 wounded, 636 prisoners, 2 ships captured // Background to the battle In June, 1812, at the start of the War of 1812, the British General Isaac Brock sent... The War of 1812 was fought between the United States and British Empire from 1812 to 1815, on land in North America and at sea around the world. ...

Background

The British had captured the important American trading post at Fort Mackinac early in the War. The Americans were unable to mount an expedition to recapture it until 1814. Fort Mackinac painting Fort Mackinac was a military outpost garrisoned from the late 18th century to the late 19th century on Mackinac Island in the U.S. state of Michigan. ...

The American force initially consisted of five vessels (the brigs Lawrence, Niagara and Caledonia, and the gunboats Scorpion and Tigress) under Commodore Arthur Sinclair, with 700 soldiers (half regulars, half militia) embarked under Lieutenant Colonel George Croghan. In sailing, a brig is a vessel with two masts at least one of which is square rigged. ... The first USS Niagara was a brig in the United States Navy during the War of 1812. ... USS Scorpion was a schooner of the United States Navy during the War of 1812. ... Commodore Arthur Sinclair (died 1831) was an early American naval hero, who served in the U.S. Navy during the Quasi-War with France and in the War of 1812. ... George Croghan (15 November 1791 - 8 January 1849) was born in Locust Grove, Kentucky and died in New Orleans, Louisiana. ...

The expedition sailed from Detroit and entered Lake Huron on July 12. They first searched Matchedash Bay for a British supply base but failed to find one. They then attacked the British post at St. Joseph Island on July 20, but found it abandoned. On August 4 they attacked the main British position, Fort Mackinac, in the Battle of Mackinac Island but were repulsed with heavy losses. Nickname: Motor City Motto: Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus (Latin for, We Hope For Better Things; It Shall Rise From the Ashes) Official website: www. ... The Great Lakes from space; Lake Huron is the third from the left. ... July 12 is the 193rd day (194th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 172 days remaining. ... St. ... July 20 is the 201st day (202nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 164 days remaining. ... August 4 is the 216th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (217th in leap years), with 149 days remaining. ... Fort Mackinac painting Fort Mackinac was a military outpost garrisoned from the late 18th century to the late 19th century on Mackinac Island in the U.S. state of Michigan. ... Combatants British Empire United States Commanders Robert McDouall George Croghan Andrew Holmes† Strength about 300 700 Casualties 1 dead, 1 wounded 13 dead, 51 wounded The Battle of Fort Mackinac was a British victory in the War of 1812. ...

Action at Nottawasaga

In spite of this victory, the British at Mackinac were very short of provisions and would starve if they were not resupplied before Lake Huron froze at the start of winter. Sinclair had earlier captured a small schooner (the Mink) belonging to the North West Company, and learned from one of the prisoners that the British supply base was at Nottawasaga Bay. He arrived there with the Niagara, Scorpion and Tigress on August 13. Nottawasaga Bay is a bay of Lake Huron in Ontario, at the southernmost end of Georgian Bay. ... August 13 is the 225th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (226th in leap years), with 140 days remaining. ...

The British detachment at Nottawasaga consisted of 21 sailors under Lieutenant Miller Worsley, 9 French Canadian voyageurs and 23 Indians. The unarmed schooner Nancy[1] was also there, loaded with 300 barrels of provisions. The Nancy had been towed two miles up the Nottawasaga River and a crude blockhouse armed with two carronades and a field gun hastily constructed for her protection. Miller Worsley (July 8, 1791 - May 2, 1835) was an officer in the Royal Navy, best known for serving in the Engagement on Lake Huron in the Anglo-American War of 1812. ... The Nottawasaga River is a river in southern Ontario, Canada. ...

Croghan's troops (three companies of regular infantry and a detachment of artillery) landed, and discovered the Nancy. The next day, the American ships opened fire over intervening sand hills, but without success. The Americans now landed two howitzers. Worsley had already decided that further defence was impossible and had made preparations to destroy the blockhouse and schooner when a lucky hit from a howitzer shell did the job for him. His party suffered one killed and one wounded. Loading a WW1 British 15 in (381 mm) howitzer A howitzer or hauwitzer is a type of field artillery. ...

The Americans recovered the guns from the wrecked blockhouse, and then felled trees across the river. Sinclair departed for Detroit in the Niagara, leaving the gunboats to maintain a blockade of the bay.

Movements in late August

The Americans had missed one hundred barrels of provisions, two batteaux and a large canoe which had been moved higher up the river. Worsley removed the obstructions from the river, and sailed for Fort Mackinac with his sailors and Lieutenant Livingston of the Indian Department late on August 18. The gunboats failed to spot him, and he believed he might reach Mackinac Island without further difficulty, other than shortage of rations. August 18 is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

The gunboats were forced back into Lake Huron by a storm a few days later. The Americans then heard that a party of Canadian voyageurs under a Captain J. M. Lamotte were attempting to reach Mackinac Island with supplies via the Ottawa River, Lake Nipissing and the French River. To intercept this party, the gunboats cruised in a narrow channel east of Mackinac Island, known as the Detour Passage. (The voyageur party were warned and temporarily turned back.) This is about the river in Canada. ... View of Lake Nipissing from North Bay. ...

To his surprise, Worsley encountered the two gunboats in the Detour, but was able to turn aside without being spotted. He concealed the batteaux at a secluded bay, and reached Mackinac Island with the canoe on September 1. September 1 is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years). ...

Capture of the gunboats

Worsley asked Lieutenant Colonel Robert McDouall, the commandant at Fort Mackinac, for reinforcements to be used to attack the gunboats. He received 60 men of the Royal Newfoundland Fencibles, all expert boatmen, in four large boats. Two hundred Indians in nineteen canoes followed them in case any warriors were fighting for the Americans, but (other than Livingston and three chiefs) did not take part in the following actions. Lieutenant Colonel Robert McDouall was a military officer during the War of 1812. ...

On the night of September 4, Worsley's four boats approached the Tigress silently. The crew (thirty-one sailors and marines) of the gunboat spotted them too late and their fire missed. The attackers swarmed on board and overpowered them. September 4 is the 247th day of the year (248th in leap years). ...

The next day, the Scorpion came into view, but appeared not to have heard any of the fight. At dawn on September 6, Worsley set sail towards her, under American colours and with most of his men below decks or concealed under tarpaulins. When a few yards from the Scorpion, Worsley opened fire. As the ships came into contact, his men once again swarmed aboard the surprised American vessel and subdued any resistance. USS Scorpion was a schooner of the United States Navy during the War of 1812. ... This article is about the day of the year. ...

Ironically, Scorpion (but not Tigress) had boarding nettings rigged, and might have been able to fight off a boarding attempt from small boats, but not from a vessel of equal size.

Aftermath

The captured Scorpion and Tigress were renamed Surprise and Confiance. It was too late in the year for American ships to re-enter Lake Huron to engage them. They sailed at once for Nottawasaga, and returned at the start of October with six months' provisions. This was sufficient to keep the garrison of Mackinac and their Indian allies supplied until the end of the war.

Although trifling in scale, the British and Indian successes on Lake Huron were vital, given the remoteness and sparse population of the theatre.

Some American historians maintain that the expedition to recapture Mackinac Island was a waste of resources, and that the troops would have been better employed in the battles on the Niagara peninsula and the crews of the vessels more use in the squadron on Lake Ontario. On the other hand, 300 extra regular soldiers and the same number of sailors would have made little difference given the scale of the battles further east; and the successful recovery of Fort Mackinac would have spared other American troops tied down in garrisons in the west by hostile Native Americans. Lake Ontario seen from near Wolcott, New York Lake Ontario (French: lac Ontario), bounded on the north by Ontario and on the south by Ontarios Niagara Peninsula and by New York State, is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. ...

Sources

• The Defended Border, Morris Zaslow (ed), Macmillan of Canada, 1964, ISBN 0770512429
• The Naval War of 1812, Theodore Roosevelt, Modern Library, New York, ISBN 0375754199