The Battle of Crysler's Farm, also known as the Battle of Crysler's Field, or the Battle of Williamsburg, was fought on 11 November 1813, during the War of 1812, in the British province of Upper Canada. A British and Upper Canadian force defeated a much larger American invasion force, prompting the US to abandon the Saint Lawrence campaign, its plan to capture Montreal in the autumn of 1813.
The name of the battle comes from a farm owned by Captain John Crysler, an officer in the Dundas County Militia who participated in the battle. The farm served as the headquarters for British forces, although the battle itself occurred on properties towards the east. (The name "Chrysler's Farm" is sometimes used for the engagement, but "Crysler" is the proper spelling.)
Saint Lawrence Campaign
American plan
The battle arose from a United States military campaign that was intended to capture Montreal in the British province of Lower Canada. The resulting military actions, including the Battle of the Chateauguay in Lower Canada, the Battle of Crysler's Farm in Upper Canada, and a number of skirmishes, are collectively known as the Saint Lawrence Campaign.
The US plan was devised by United States Secretary of War John Armstrong Jr., who originally intended to take the field himself. Because concentrating the necessary force in one place was difficult due to the initially scattered disposition of the troops and inadequate lines of communication, it involved two forces which were to combine for the final assault. Major General James Wilkinson's division of 8,000 was to concentrate at Sackett's Harbor on Lake Ontario, and proceed down the Saint Lawrence River in gunboats, batteaux and other small craft. At some point, they would rendezvous with a division of 4,000 under Major General Wade Hampton advancing north from Plattsburgh on Lake Champlain, to make the final attack on Montreal.
Even as preparations proceeded, that the plan had several shortcomings was apparent. Until the last minute, the planners were uncertain whether the objective was to be Montreal or Kingston, as Armstrong originally intended to attack and where the British naval squadron on Lake Ontario was based. However, Commodore Isaac Chauncey, commanding the US Navy squadron on the lake, refused to risk his ships in any attack against Kingston. Mistrust followed the US Army officers concerned; Wilkinson had an unsavoury reputation as a scoundrel, and Hampton originally refused to serve in any capacity in the same army as Wilkinson. The troops lacked training and uniforms, sickness was rife and there were too few experienced officers. Chiefly though, neither force could apparently carry sufficient supplies to sustain itself before Montreal, making a siege or any prolonged blockade impossible.
American preliminary moves
Hampton began his part of the campaign on 19 September with an advance down the Richelieu River, which flows north from Lake Champlain. He decided that the defences on this obvious route were too strong and instead shifted westward to Four Corners, on the Chateauguay River near the border with Lower Canada. He was forced to wait there for several weeks as Wilkinson's force was not ready, which cost him some of his initial advantage in numbers as Canadian troops were moved to the Chateauguay, and reduced his supplies.
Armstrong had intended that Wilkinson's force would set out on 15 September. On 2 September, Wilkinson himself had gone to Fort George, which the Americans had captured in May, to arrange the movement of Brigadier General John Parker Boyd's division from Fort George to rendezvous with the troops from Sackett's Harbor. Possibly because he was ill, he delayed around Fort George for nearly a month. He returned to Sackett's Harbor, and Boyd's division began its movement, only in the first week in October.
The poor prospects for success (and possibly his own illness) led Armstrong to abandon his intention of leading the final assault himself. He handed overall command of the expedition to Wilkinson and departed Sackett's Harbor on his way to Washington on 16 October, just before Wilkinson's part of the campaign was at last launched. Armstrong's letter to Hampton, notifying him of the change in command and also throwing much of the burden of supplying the combined force onto him, arrived the evening before Hampton's army fought the Battle of the Chateauguay. Although Hampton nevertheless attacked, as part of his force was already committed to an outflanking move, he immediately sent his resignation, and fell back when his first attack was repulsed.
Wilkinson's moves
Wilkinson's force left Sackett's Harbor in 300 batteaux and other small craft on 17 October, bound at first for Grenadier Island at the head of the St. Lawrence. Mid-October was very late in the year for serious campaigning in the Canadas and the American force was hampered by bad weather, losing several boats and suffering from sickness and exposure. It took several days for the last stragglers to reach Grenadier Island.
On 1 November, the first boats set out from the island, and reached French Creek (near present-day Clayton, New York) on 4 November. Here, the first shots of the campaign were fired. British brigs and gunboats under Commander William Mulcaster had left Kingston to rendezvous with and escort batteaux and canoes carrying supplies up the Saint Lawrence. The aggressive Mulcaster bombarded the American anchorages and encampments during the evening. The next morning, American artillerymen under Lieutenant Colonel Moses Porter drove him away, using hastily heated "hot shot". (The red-hot American cannonballs set fire to the brig Earl of Moira, and the crew intentionally scuttled the brig to extinguish the fire. The brig was later salvaged and returned to service.)
From French Creek, Wilkinson proceeded down the river. On 6 November, while at the settlement of Hoags, he received the news that Hampton had been repulsed at the Chateauguay River on 26 October. He sent fresh instructions to Hampton to march westward from his present position at Four Corners, New York and meet him at Cornwall.
Wilkinson's force successfully bypassed the British post at Prescott late on 7 November. The troops and ammunition were disembarked and marched around Ogdensburg on the south bank of the river, while the lightened boats ran past the British batteries under cover of darkness and poor visibility. Only one boat was lost, with two killed and three wounded. The next day, while the main body re-embarked, an advance guard battalion commanded by colonels Alexander Macomb and Winfield Scott, followed by a battalion of riflemen under Major Benjamin Forsyth were landed on the Canadian side of the river near Point Iroquois to clear the river bank of harassing Dundas County Militia, who were reported to have turned "every narrow stretch of the waterway" from Leeds to Glengarry into "a shooting gallery". Here the small Battle of Point Iroquois was fought between 1,200 Americans and 200 men of the Dundas County Militia. This delaying skirmish helped the Canadian forces bolster their defences and gave extra time for preparation in Cornwall.
On the following day (9 November), Wilkinson held a council of war. All his senior officers appeared to be determined to proceed with the expedition, regardless of the difficulties and alarming reports of enemy strength. The advance guard was reinforced with the 2nd Brigade (6th, 15th and 22nd U.S. infantry) under Brigadier General Jacob Brown, who took command of the force which numbered 2.500. Brown's force marched eastward along the northern bank of the river, clearing a small British garrison from Fort Matilda, at the river's narrowest point. Before the main body could follow by water, Wilkinson learned that a British force was pursuing him. He landed almost all the other troops as a rearguard, under Brigadier General John Parker Boyd. Late on 10 November, after a day spent marching under intermittent fire from British gunboats and field guns, Wilkinson set up his headquarters in Cook's Tavern, with Boyd's troops bivouacked in the surrounding woods.
British counter-moves
The British had been aware of the American concentration at Sackett's Harbor, but for a long time they had believed, with good reason, that their own main naval base at Kingston was the intended target of Wilkinson's force. Major General Francis de Rottenburg, the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, had massed his available troops there. When Mulcaster returned from French Creek late on 5 November with news that the Americans were heading down the Saint Lawrence, de Rottenburg dispatched a Corps of Observation after them, in accordance with orders previously issued by Governor General Sir George Prevost.
The corps initially numbered 650 men, and was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Wanton Morrison, the commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion, the 89th Regiment. They were embarked in the schooners Beresford and Sir Sydney Smith, accompanied by seven gunboats and several small craft, all commanded by Mulcaster. They departed from Kingston in thick weather late on 7 November and evaded the ships of Commodore Isaac Chauncey, which were blockading the base, among the Thousand Islands at the head of the Saint Lawrence River. On 9 November, they reached Prescott, where the troops disembarked as the schooners could proceed no farther (although Mulcaster continued to accompany them with three gunboats and some batteaux). Morrison was reinforced by a detachment of 240 men from the garrison of Prescott, for a total strength of about 900 men.
Marching rapidly, they caught up with Boyd's rearguard on 10 November. That evening they encamped near Crysler's Farm, two miles upstream from the American positions. The terrain was mainly open fields, which gave full scope to British tactics and musketry, while the muddy ground (planted with fall wheat) and the marshy nature of the woods surrounding the farm would hamper the American manoeuvres. Morrison was keen to accept battle here if offered.
Battle
As dawn broke on 11 November, it was cold and raining, though the rain later eased. Firing broke out in two places. On the river, Mulcaster's gunboats began shooting at the American boats clustered around Cook's Point, while an indigenous warrior fired a shot at an American party scouting near their encampment, who replied with a volley. Half a dozen Canadian Militia dragoons bolted back to the main British force, calling that the Americans were attacking. The British force dropped its half-cooked breakfast and formed up, which caused American sentries to report that the British were attacking, and forced the Americans in turn to form up and stand to arms.
At about 10:30 a.m., Wilkinson received a message from Jacob Brown, who reported that the previous evening he had defeated 500 Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders militia at the Battle of Hoople's Creek and the way ahead was clear. To proceed, however, the American boats would next have to face the Long Sault rapids and Wilkinson determined to drive Morrison off before attempting them. He himself had been ill for some time, and could not command the attack himself. His second-in-command, Major General Morgan Lewis, was also "indisposed". This left Brigadier General Boyd in command. He had immediately available the 3rd Brigade under Brigadier General Leonard Covington (9th, 16th and 25th U.S. Infantry) and the 4th Brigade under Brigadier General Robert Swartwout (11th, 14th and 21st U.S. Infantry), with two 6-pounder guns. Some distance down-river were part of Boyd's own 1st Brigade under the brigade's second-in-command, Colonel Isaac Coles, (12th and 13th U.S. Infantry), four more 6-pounder guns and a squadron of the 2nd U.S. Dragoons. In all, Boyd commanded perhaps 2,500 men (though some sources put the figure at 4,000).
British dispositions
The British were disposed in echelon, with their right wing thrown forward: