Post #20: Battles and More Battles

September 10, 1813

Dear Journal,

Sorry I have not written lately, but not much had happened until today.  Since the beginning of winter, the British at Amherstburg were facing supply problems.  They were having these problems because the Americans had an advantage on the Great Lakes because the British Navy was busy on the coast and there were not enough British ships to send to the Great Lakes to help them.  So now, just this morning, six of our British ships fought nine of the American ships and in the battle that continued from morning until late afternoon, sadly the American captured our British ships and took control of Lake Erie.

October 25, 1813

Dear Journal,

The Battle of Chateauguay was fought today.  Our British force included soldiers from Lower Canada and the First Nations.  They were commanded by a French Canadian Colonel De Salaberry.  This battle began with an American plan to invade Montreal.  The Americans wanted to cut off the supply line between Montreal and Kingston.  However, the Americans had poor leadership and at one point they had even killed some of their own guards.  Also, the American consistently overestimated the size of our force.  The American force outnumbered our troops by around eight times, however, the Americans thought they were outnumbered and retreated.  This battle, in terms of casualties, was not a major battle.

March 11, 1814

Dear Journal,

Another battle, the Battle of Lundy’s Lane, was just fought over a period of five hours.  Most of the battle was fought in the darkness of night and it caused confusion on the battle field.  Each side accidentally fought some of their own men.  The Americans retreated the next day and built up a defense at Fort Erie.  They planned a second attack, but they have not attacked us yet.