Background
The Battle of Lundy’s Lane, also known as the Battle of Niagara or contemporarily as the Battle of Bridgewater, was fought on 25 July 1814, during the War of 1812, between an invading American army and a British and Canadian army near present-day Niagara Falls, Ontario. It was one of the bloodiest battles of the war, and one of the deadliest battles fought in Canada, with approximately 1,720 casualties including 258 killed.
Early on 25 July, the British Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, Lieutenant General Gordon Drummond, arrived in Fort George to take personal command on the Niagara peninsula. He immediately ordered a force under Lieutenant Colonel John Tucker to advance south from Fort Niagara (which the British had captured in December 1813) along the east side of the Niagara River, hoping this would force Brown to evacuate the west bank. Instead, Brown ordered an advance north, intending in turn to force the British to recall Tucker’s column to protect Fort George. The Americans apparently did not know that the British held Lundy’s Lane in strength.
As soon as Riall knew the Americans were advancing, he ordered his troops to fall back to Fort George and ordered another column under Colonel Hercules Scott to move from St. Davids to Queenston to cover his withdrawal, rather than advance to his support. These orders were countermanded by Drummond, who had force-marched a detachment of reinforcements to Lundy’s Lane from Fort George. The British were still reoccupying their positions when the first American units came into view, at about 6:00 pm.
Lundy’s Lane was a spur from the main Portage Road alongside the Niagara River. It ran along the summit of some rising ground (about 25 feet higher than the surrounding area) and therefore commanded good views of the area. The British artillery (two 24-pounder and two 6-pounder guns, one 5.5-inch howitzer and a Congreve rocket detachment) were massed in a cemetery at the highest point of the battlefield.
The American 1st Brigade of regulars under Winfield Scott, with Towson’s artillery company, emerged in the late afternoon from a forest into an open field and was badly mauled by the British artillery. Scott sent the 25th U.S. Infantry, commanded by Major Thomas Jesup, to outflank the British left. The 25th found a disused track leading to a landing stage on the river and used it to pass round the British flank. They caught the British and Canadian units there (the light company of the 1st Battalion of the 8th (King’s) Regiment and the Upper Canada Incorporated Militia Battalion) while they were redeploying and unaware of the American presence, and drove them back in confusion. The British and Canadians rallied, but had been driven off the Portage Road. Jesup sent Captain Ketchum’s light infantry company to secure the junction of Lundy’s Lane and the Portage Road. Ketchum’s company captured large numbers of wounded and messengers, including Major General Riall, who had been wounded in one arm and was riding to the rear. Most of the prisoners escaped when Ketchum, having briefly rejoined Jesup, ran into an enemy unit while trying to return to the main body of the American army, although Riall and militia cavalry leader Captain William Hamilton Merritt remained prisoners.
Jesup’s action and the steadiness of Scott’s brigade persuaded Drummond to withdraw his centre to maintain alignment with his left flank, and also pull back the Glengarry Light Infantry, who had been harassing Scott’s own left flank. The withdrawal of Drummond’s center left the artillery exposed in front of the infantry.
By nightfall, Scott’s brigade had suffered heavy casualties. Brown had arrived late in the day with the American main body (the 2nd Brigade of regulars under Brigadier General Eleazer Wheelock Ripleyand a brigade of volunteers from the militia under Brigadier General Peter B. Porter). As Ripley and Porter relieved Scott’s brigade, Brown ordered the 21st U.S. Infantry under Lieutenant Colonel James Miller to capture the British guns. Miller famously responded, “I’ll try, Sir”.
While the British were distracted by another attack by the 1st U.S. Infantry on their right, Miller’s troops deployed within a few yards of the British artillery. They fired a volley of musketry that killed most of the gunners and followed up with a bayonet charge; this captured the guns and drove the British centre from the hill. The British infantry immediately behind the guns (the 2nd Battalion of the 89th Foot) tried to counter-attack, but were driven back by Miller and Ripley.
Meanwhile, the British column under Colonel Hercules Scott was arriving on the field, already tired from its unnecessary diversion via Queenston. Unaware of the changed situation, they blundered into Ripley’s brigade and were also driven back in disorder, losing their own three 6-pounder guns. These were recovered by a charge by the light company of the 41st Foot, but were either abandoned again or remained in British hands but could not be brought into action as the drivers and gunners had been scattered.
While the Americans tried to deploy their own artillery among the captured British guns, Drummond (who had been wounded in the neck) reorganized his troops and mounted a determined attempt to retake his own cannon. There was no subtlety; Drummond launched an attack in line, without attempting to use his many light infantry to harass or disorder the American line, or to locate any weak points in it. The Americans beat back the attack after a short-range musketry duel over the abandoned British guns, in which both sides suffered heavy casualties. The Glengarry Light Infantry, who had once again begun to harass the American left flank, were mistaken for Americans by other British units and forced to withdraw after suffering casualties from British fire.
Undeterred by his first failure, Drummond launched a second attack, using the same methods and formation as in the first. Although some American units wavered, they were rallied by Ripley and stood their ground. While the combat was taking place, Winfield Scott led his depleted brigade (which had been reorganized into a single ad hoc battalion under Major Henry Leavenworth) in an unauthorized attack against Drummond’s centre. Scott’s brigade was engaged both by the British and by units of Ripley’s brigade, who were not aware of the identity of the troops at which they were shooting. Drummond’s line was driven back but Scott’s men broke in disorder and retreated, before rallying on the American left. Scott rode to join Jesup’s regiment, still out on the right flank, but was severely wounded shortly afterwards.
Shortly before midnight, Drummond launched a third counter-attack, using every man he could find, although by this time the British line consisted of mixed-up detachments and companies, rather than organized regiments and battalions. The fighting over the artillery was closer than before, with bayonets being used at one point, but again the exhausted British fell back.
By midnight both sides were spent. On the American side only 700 men were still standing in the line. Winfield Scott and Jacob Brown were both severely wounded. Brown would soon recover but Scott’s injury removed him from the campaign. With supplies and water short, Brown ordered a retreat. Porter and Lieutenant Colonel Jacob Hindman (Brown’s artillery commander) protested but complied. Ripley apparently did not learn of Brown’s order until he realised that Hindman’s artillery had been withdrawn. Although urged by Porter to maintain his position, he also withdrew. The British still had 1,400 men on the field but they were in no condition to interfere with the American withdrawal. Drummond had ordered some units to hold the Portage Road and left some light infantry outposts near the Americans, but had withdrawn the remainder a short distance west along Lundy’s Lane.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lundy%27s_Lane
The Game
We have been really running the Perry Brothers Valour and Fortitude rules for a while now. We like them for small battles, so that will probably keep happing! Well, the next period I want to cover is a number of battles of the War of 1812. The first we decided to try was the Battle of Lundy’s Lane.
I am still working on my 1812 armies, so I talked to a buddy of mine and he graciously provided all the figures for the game (along with all the fences). The rest of the terrain was from my collection.
We just took the Fire and Fury variant scenario that is available online and tweaked it to fit with Valour & Fortitude. The main thing was sizing the units. I planned on twelve turns to work out the changes of daylight and sighting distances into night. We made the US having a unit on or past Lundy’s Lane worth a victory point. Otherwise, it was the normal spent points. I put together the unit stats, using a combination of the Rev War and Napaleonic War sheets off the website. I used the Brit fate cards from the Rev War and the Brit allied fate cards from the Napoleonic set.
We started with Scotts brigade on the table, ready to move forward. The rest of the US and British forces came on as reserves, through the course of the game.
The US started to advance into the attack, slowly but surely forward through the terrain, which slowed down the advance. While advancing, the British artillery was making its mark and casing a good deal of casualties to further slow the advance.
The first US reserves were supposed to arrive, but the Brits played the confusion card and delayed it for a turn. This was further exacerbated by the US player rolling a one the next two turns for orders. This totally screwed the US forces, as they just could not get their forces forward.
The British reserves started to arrive and the Brit players decided to start attacking on their right to flank Scotts brigade. The all seemed to be working well… In desperation, the US player finally got Scott’s brigade far enough forward and decided to go into the charge to try to change the initiative.
Well, fortune favors the foolish and all the attacks were successful, throwing the British back! The US forces were on the road. However, the Brit reserves were in position to overwhelm Scott’s spread out units. Fortunately, for the US, the reserves finally made it forward to get into the fight, as nightfall descended. By this point, the game came to an end.
Despite all the challenges both sides had, the game ended in a US very minor victory. The British had one spent brigade and the US none. Both sides struggled to maneuver their forces. The delayed reserves really hurt the US players, but Scott’s brigade had a lot of lucky rolling that kept it on the table, despite the withering fire it was exposed to!
- Manteuffel