The Naval War of 1812: A Documentary History is a new website which contains numerous documents relating to the history of the United States Navy.

Volume III, 1813 [Part 4 of 7] contains numerous references to the expedition sent to Georgian Bay in the summer of 1813 to capture Michilimackinac and cut off the new British supply route to the North West, from York by way of Lake Simcoe to Nottawasaga Bay on Lake Huron

Below are excerpts from some of the letters regarding the defence of Michilimackinac and the schooner Nancy, which was serving as a British supply vessel on Lake Huron.

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GOVERNOR-GENERAL SIR GEORGE PREVOST TO

LIEUTENANT GENERAL GORDON DRUMMOND, BRITISH ARMY ¹

Lt. Genl. Drummond Head Qrs. Quebec

8^th Jany. 1814

Dear Sir,

In reply to your letter of the 26th of last month, I have to acquaint you that I propose meeting Commodore Sir James Yeo at Montreal about the latter end of the month for the purpose of making with him the necessary arrangements for the approaching campaign.

Alive to the importance of Michilimackinac I have given orders for the necessary preparations being made to transport them in ten birch canoes as soon as the Ottawa is navigable, Arms & ammunition, Indian presents & provisions together with a proportion of Troops. It is necessary you should make arrangements for conveying to that post by Lake Huron twelve months provisions for three hundred men. The number of Gun Boats & Batteaux necessary for the carriage of the whole is a matter of calculation & should be commenced upon immediately provided you have found a man of activity & enterprize to undertake the building of them in Penetanguishene Bay, who will be responsible that they are finished by the time required.

In addition to the force I propose sending to Mackinac by the Ottawa I shall require from you two Companies of the 2d. Battn. of Marines & a proportion of Seamen under a Lieut. to man the Nancy & Gun Boats. No useless consumer of Provisions is to be allowed to accompany this Detachment, but as it should be composed of none but men who would prove a benefit & not an encumbrance to the Service.

[In fact, it was about 100 men of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment who left Kingston in February 1814, as described in the preamble to the next letter. ED]

The arrangements regarding this movement will be completed immediately after I have met the Commodore. The North West Company being interested their opinions must be left out of the question whilst we are considering the advantages which may result from the preservation of Mackinac.

I consider it as of vital importance as respects our Indian alliance, it being the rallying point, the last link by which their Warriors still faithfully cling to our interest, severed from that, they will find themselves an abandoned people, deserted by us in their utmost need & reduced by despair to seek mercy from their bitterest foe. Then the charm of British influence would be dissolved & hopeless becomes the prospect of ever regaining their confidence.

But the preservation of our Indian alliance is not the only solitary good which will result from being able to retain possession of Mackinac, the spirits of our auxiliaries would be so received [revived] by it that in the event of operations being undertaken for the recovery of Amherstburg & Detroit, a most essential cooperation might be looked for from Lake Huron for the accomplishment of so great an object. 

In respect to the conveyance of this reinforcement, the preference must be given to the most expeditious & from all the information I have collected, I understand the navigation of Lake Huron from Peneteanguishine Bay is practicable early in April affording us a considerable start of the Enemy, provided you succeed in having the Gun Boats & Batteaux finished by that period-  

The Gun Boats may be armed with the 24 Pdr. Carronades which are at York & were intended for the Detroit. The reports of this day shew sixty 24 Pdrs. long guns for the new Ships moving towards Kingston & arrangements are made for forty 32 Prs. Carronades to follow. 

In addition to this immense transport several long guns are ordered from Montreal to Upper Canada for Garrison service - Two Brass 24 Prs. on Travelling Carriages from the Coteau du Lac to Queenston are in the number. 

.... I have &c

(Signed) George Prevost

Comr. of the Forces

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[Reinforcing Michilimackinac

The outpost of Fort Michilimackinac was badly in need of reinforcements and supplies in 1814. Captain Richard Bullock, commander of the fort since September 1813, knew additional officers, soldiers, and sailors were also needed if the British were to resist the American assault that was likely to occur in 1814. In February, Lieutenant Colonel Robert McDouall was ordered to the Nottawasaga River to construct batteaux and transport troops and supplies to Mackinac.... When the ice finally broke up on Lake Huron, his party of twenty-one seamen, eleven artillerymen, and two companies of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment set out in twenty four batteaux to cross 360 miles of open lake to .Mackinac Island... They departed 25 April and arrived 18 May after a stormy and icy passage, carrying with them the much-needed military stores and provisions.

 Lieutenant Colonel McDouall's authority on Lake Huron, however, was challenged by young Lieutenant Newdigate Poyntz, who apparently perceived himself commodore of everything afloat on the lake, including the batteaux that McDouall had constructed at Nottawasaga that winter. The young lieutenant was speedily replaced by Lieutenant Miller Worsley, who would prove more willing to participate in joint British operations on Lake Huron.]

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 LIEUTENANT COLONEL ROBERT MCDOUALL, BRITISH ARMY, TO

LIEUTENANT GENERAL GORDON DRUMMOND, BRITISH ARMY

Michilimackinac 26th. May 1814

My dear General,

The Nancy being just under way, I refer you to my Letter to Col. Harvey for the particulars of our Voyage. I avail myself of the few minutes left me before she sails, to urge in the strongest terms, the necessity of Mr. Crookshank being immediately directed to deposit for us at the mouth of the Nottawasaga River, another supply of provisions consisting of from three to four hundred Barrels of Flour and Pork; otherwise this place will soon be in danger from the want of that article, owing to the great issues to the Indians, which I have curtailed as much as possible, even at the risque of offending them. I also daily expect Mr. Dickson, with from three to four hundred more [Native warriors], which will increase our issues to about 1600 [per] day.

Mr. Crookshank should also be directed to send us:

20 Stand of Arms, left at Lake Simcoe.

The Stocks and Clasps I ordered.

200 pairs more Shoes, & 400 more American Socks.

A Good supply of Leather to repair the others, there not being any here. As much of the Flour and Pork should be in Bags as possible, to stow in Canoes, as I may have no other means of getting them.

Ten Casks of Rum, of about 16 Gallons each.

No step has yet been taken to fit out the Nancy; her former Commr. Capt. McIntosh gave his opinion that she was not fit to cut down, or worth it, and I silently acquiesced in Lieut. Poyntz's opinion, that even if fitted out she could not shew herself before the force which the enemy could bring against her, because I derive more advantage from her guns on shore than I have any hope of doing from her being equipped with them. I most heartily wish that Sir James again had the pertinacious Lieut. that he unfortunately sent me, who, full of his own consequence, as Commanding on Lake Huron (Commg. what? not a vessel) and a great stickler for naval etiquette, is constantly disposed to cavil, and on the watch for opportunities in his naval capacity, to oppose what I wish. I have had on that account, much difficulty in getting the Nancy sent this trip. Indeed I should have sent the Gentn.[sic] back on her, only I could not well spare in our circumstances, the twenty Seamen, and they would not be willing to serve under a military officer. It is necessary that he should return, and that a deserving Midshipman, or some one explicitly under my orders, be sent out in his place, or that part of the service cannot go on. Lieut. Poyntz told me on the passage, that he conceived he commanded all afloat, and of course the whole expedition, when we were in Batteaux.

I shall state these matters by the Express Canoe to His Excellency- I have sent two Canoes to ascertain what they are doing at Detroit and the River St. Clair. Should they be establishing themselves at the latter place, uncountenanced by a Naval Force, it may be in our power to interrupt them, on Mr. Dicksons arrival, but, if well protected in that way, it would be a hazardous attempt, as our Batteaux may be destroyed, and our retreat cut off.

Believe me to be &c

(Signed) Rt. Mc.Douall

 1  Governor-General Sir George Prevost was the highest ranking government official and senior military officer in Upper Canada, having replaced General Sir Isaac Brock in those positions on Brock's death in 1812. Lieutenant general Gordon Drummond was the military commander at Montreal, the operational headquarters for the British forces in Canada.

The Newfoundlanders Voyage in the Spring of 1814

As indicated in Keith Bacon's paper below, Nine Mile Portage and Willow creek became important to the British military effort in 1813, after the loss  of their Lake Erie fleet and control of that lake cut of access to Georgian Bay and their fort at Michillimackinac [now Mackinaw Island, Michigan].

A party of soldiers from the Newfoundland Regiment, and some sailors and naval artificers, set out from Kingston in early 1814.  Marching to York [Toronto], they travelled up Yonge Street to Holland Landing, across the ice on Lake Simcoe and eight miles into the woods, following the Nine Mile Portage.

Near the head of Willow Creek, the soldiers constructed 29 batteaux, loaded them with supplies and travelled down Willow Creek and the Nottawasaga River and through the ice of Georgian Bay to Michillimackinac.

Below is an account of that voyage, taken from the London Gazette of August 1814.

 

COLONIAL DEPARTMENT.

Downing Street, August, 1814.

 DISPATCHES, of which the following are an extract and copy, have been this day received from Lieutenaut-General Sir George Prevost, by Earl Bathurst, His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the War and Colonies.

 Head-Quarters, Montreal, July 10, 1814

 I HAVE the honour to report to your Lordship, the safe arrival at Michilimackinac on the 18th of May last, of Lieutenant-Colonel M'Douall, with the whole of the reinforcements of troops and seamen, and of the supplies of stores and provisions with which he sailed from Nottawasaga River on the 25th April preceding. The difficulties experienced in conducting open and deeply laden batteaux, across so great an extent of water as Lake Huron, covered with immense fields of ice, and agitated by violent gales of wind, could only have been surmounted by the zeal, perseverance and abilities, of the officers commanding this expedition for nineteen days it was nearly one continued struggle with the elements, during which time the dangers, hardships and privations, to which the men were exposed, were sufficient to discourage the boldest amongst them, and at times threatened the total destruction of the flotilla. By uncommon exertions, however, the obstacles to the progress of the boats were surmounted, and the whole, with the exception of one only (the lading of which was saved), reached the place of their destination, to the great joy of the garrison, who had been anxiously looking out for this timely relief.

Measures were taken by Colonel M'Douall, immediately after his arrival, to strengthen the defences of the fort; and I have had the satisfaction of hearing from him as late as the .18th of June, that the works had assumed so formidable an attitude, as to leave him no apprehension of the result of any attack which, the enemy might make upon this post. Colonel M'Douall reports to me the arrival at the fort of nearly two hundred of the Western warriors, under Mr. Dickson ; a reinforcement which he considers highly important. He describes these Western warriors to be a warlike and determined race, on whom great reliance may be placed.

 

One of a series of papers presented to the Simcoe County Historical Society by Keith Bacon

 

FORT WILLOW - Early history up to the McDouall expedition of 1814

We have no written records of the early use of the Nine Mile Portage by the First Nations, although, long before the arrival of Europeans on the continent, it was a trading and communications route between villages and indeed nations. The first European record we have found is the map of the Western Part of New France by P Coronelli, published in Paris in 1688, which shows the word “Portage” between “Lac Taronto” (Lake Simcoe) and “Lac des Hurons” (Lake Huron, Georgian Bay). This indicates that the portage was used by the French explorers and missionaries in the 15^th century.

 The next record we have is the notation “A Portage from hence of 9 Miles to the Notua Saque, which empties into the Iroquois Bay, Lake Huron” which appears at the end of Kempenfelt Bay on a “Sketch Map of a Route from YORK Town on Lake Ontario, to the harbor of Penatanyasheen on Lake Huron in Upper Canada by Lt. Pilkington, Royal Engineers, in the year 1793”. This map is as an attachment to The Simcoe Papers, Vol. II, 1793-4, pp 70-79. Pilkington accompanied Governor Simcoe on his expedition to find a deep water harbour on Georgian Bay in 1793.

The first significant involvement in the War of 1812 of Fort Willow (which at that time had not been developed), was probably the transit via the Nine Mile Portage of the parties travelling North from Fort George in the Summer of 1812, to warn the British Garrison at St Josephs Island that war had been declared by the Americans on the 18^th June. It was this timely news that allowed the garrison’s commander Captain Charles Roberts, to lead a force of soldiers, voyageurs, and natives, to capture Fort Michilmackinac, the key post near Sault Ste Marie, before its American commander Lt. Porter Hanks, knew that a state of war existed. To quote Mr Punch in the Punch and Judy Show, “That’s the way to do it”!

 Surprisingly throughout the War of 1812 the fur trade flourished in Upper Canada, as indicated by the following returns of the North West Company:

1810 - £85,000;

1811 - £84,000;

1812 - £84,000;

1813 - £151,000;

1814 - £144,000;

1815 - £134,000;

The portage was probably quite busy with this trade and as a communications route for the British.

 I now want you to take yourself back 190 years, it is the Fall of 1813. The British have recently suffered a serious defeat in the naval battle at Put-in-Bay on Lake Erie. The Americans now have total control of the lower Great Lakes. That route to the Upper Great Lakes and the north-west is now closed to the British.

 The British successes and survival in the War to date, have to a great extent been due to the crucial support of the First Nations. Central to that support, early on in the war, was the British capture of Michilimackinac. This post holds the key to the First Nations support, to the control of the Upper Lakes and the interior of the continent, and to the Fur Trade on which the Canadian economy hinges.

 The British garrison at Michilimackinac is now in dire straits. The Americans, still smarting from its capture at the outset of hostilities, are now in a position to concentrate on the Upper Lakes and seriously threaten the garrison. Food, clothing, and supplies are desperately short. The troops, commanded by Captain Richard Bullock of the 41st Regt of Foot, total 110 men from the 10^th Royal Veteran Battalion, the Michigan Fencibles, the Canadian Volunteers, and a detachment of only 3 artillerymen. They desperately need reinforcement. The American Fleet is poised to attack, though fortunately that attack will be delayed until August.

 Fort Willow and the Nine Mile Portage now come into their own and the heroic McDouall expedition to relieve Michilmackinac in the Winter and Spring of 1814, put them on the map for the next twenty years or so. This will be demonstrated by some glimpses at contemporary documents.

 In this article we will look at two British military letters covering the formation of the expeditionary force -

 Extract from letter dated 4th February 1814, from General George Prevost, Commander in Chief of British Forces in Canada, at Quebec, to Lt General Gordon Drummond at Kingston.

 I have the honour by the direction of the Commander of the Forces to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 28th ultimo concerning the substance of the report you had received from Deputy Assistant Commissary General Cruickshank’s Office overland from Lake Simcoe from which it would seem that his original plan for the transport of stores and provisions to Penetanguishene Bay is impracticable, while the opening of the road to Nottawasaga Bay and Lake Huron, a distance only of 20 miles from Penetanguishene can with facility be effected. In as much to which I am decided to advise His Excellency in advance of your having ordered the latter route to be adopted, the former appearing to offer no hope of success.

 With respect to the suggestion for sending from Kingston a foreman and such a number of artificers as shall be necessary for the construction of the Boats intended to be built at the shore of Lake Huron, it is a subject which has been debated upon between the Commander of the Forces and the Commodore and their conclusion was to forward from Kingston a Builder and a proportion of artificers to cope with everything required for building of the Boats intended to be employed on Lake Huron and Sir James Yeo undertook to communicate with you accordingly thereon, and their numbers will if possible be replaced from Lower Canada then this demand for ship-wrights who have been recently engaged for Kingston has been so extensive as nearly to expend this part of the country of that description of previous.

 (Signed) Noah Freer

Military Secretary

 The above letter outlines the decision to improve the existing Nine Mile Portage rather than build a new Penetanguishene Road, to provide an alternative route between Lake Ontario and the Upper Lakes. It refers to the advance party of boat-builders dispatched from the Kingston Shipyard.

 Extract from letter dated 8th February 1814, from General George Prevost, Commander in Chief of British Forces in Canada, at Quebec City, to the Right Honourable Earl Bathurst, British Secretary of State for War and the Colonies.

 My Lord,

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In order to maintain uninterrupted our intercomns. with the Western Indians, I have caused the greatest exertions to be made for the preservation of Michilimackinac.

 The supply of Provisions which was forwarded for that post last Autumn by Lake Simcoe to Machedash on Lake Huron could not be transported further owing to tempestuous winter and the lateness of the Season. From this failure the Garrison must inevitably sustain great inconvenience during the winter, but as I am informed there are potatoes on the island and some cattle and with industry a considerable supply of fish may be obtained. I am in hopes they will not naturally suffer before they can be relieved in the Spring. With a view to afford this relief as early as possible and to secure the Garrison against the attempts with which the enemy have menaced it measures have been taken, and are now in Operation for conveying both by the Ottawa or Grand River, and also by a new route to Nottawasaga Bay on Lake Huron, a reinforcement of Troops and a large supply of Indian Presents, Stores, and Provisions.

 Considering the great importance of the Post, more especially as regards our relations with the Western Indians, I have selected for the Command of it Lt Col. M^cDoual of the Glengarry Fencibles who is now in U.C. [Upper Canada] making the necessary preparations for proceeding as early as possible, with reinforcements and supplies, to his destination, and directions have been given for detaching from the Dockyard at Kingston, a Builder and a proportion of Shipwrights for the construction of the Gun Boats and Batteaux required for the conveyance of the reinforcements and supplies from the uninhabited shore of Lake Huron to Michilimackinac.

 I am happy to find by these measures I have anticipated the wishes of H.M. Government and that should circumstances allow of their being carried into operation, there is a reasonable prospect of being able to retrieve the initiative, which was alluded our Squadron on Lake Erie and of effectively preserving our intercomns. with the Western Tribes of Indians so essential to the security of U.C. [Upper Canada]. Lt Col Harvey, the Dep. Adj. General proceeded from here yesterday with my final instructions to Lt Gen Drummond relating to the Operation contemplated in the correspondence herewith transmitted, and Your Lordship may rest assured that nothing short of the absolute impracticability of the undertaking will prevent its being attempted.

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(Signed) George Prevost

 In this second letter, Prevost outlines the desperate state of the Michilmackinac garrison and the plans for its relief. No record has been found of the use of the other routes mentioned. The letter covers the formation of the relief expedition commanded by Lt Col Robert McDouall of the Glengarry Light Infantry Fencible Regiment and refers to the advance party of boat-builders.

 Keith HJ Bacon, Fort Willow Improvement Group, May 2004.