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Old Niagara 
 County's 
 Share in the 
 Battle o£ 
 Lake Erie 
 
Old Niagara County's 
 
 Share in the Battle 
 
 of Lake Erie 
 
 By 
 
 Peter A. Porter 
 
 ^ 
 
 Publication of the 
 
 Niagara Frontier Historical Society 
 
 Niagara Falls, N. Y. 
 1913 
 
■Eur'2 
 
 DR. T. H. LUVELL, 
 President Niaarara Frontier Historical Soeietv 
 
 c f f 
 ••,0 
 
11. A. TAYLOR, 
 Corresponding Secretary, Niagara FiDiitior 
 Historical Societv. 
 
 E. T. WILLIAMS, 
 Recording Secretary, Niagara Frontier 
 Historical Society. 
 
1— I 
 
 CO 
 
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 :2; 
 
 73 
 
 A-* 
 
OLD NIAGARA COUNTY'S SHARE IN THE 
 BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE 
 
 Niagara County does not forg-et that 
 she is the daughter of Genesee; nor 
 that she is also the mother of Erie: and 
 she is proud both of her ancestor and of 
 her offspring. A century- ago Niagara 
 County embraced the whole of the pres- 
 ent County of Erie; the latter being set 
 off from her as a separate county in 
 1819. 
 
 Of Perry's fleet of ten armed vessels 
 on Lake Erie, one half (five in all, four 
 
 during that war. The chief ones of this 
 class were in connection with the con- 
 trol (first its loss and then its regain) 
 of the upper lakes, and especially as 
 regards Perry's victory on Lake Erie; 
 towards which Black Rock made most 
 decided contributions. 
 
 Five of the nine American vessels 
 which were captured by the British on 
 lakes Erie and Huron in July and Au- 
 gust, 1812, were owned at Black Rock; 
 
 COMMODORE O. H. PERRY 
 
 of them bought by the United States 
 within her limits, the other captured 
 from the British by an expedition which 
 was planned within, and set out from, 
 her borders) was made over into gun- 
 boats, put into fighting trim, and start- 
 ed out from old Niagara County. 
 
 New York's contribution to that fam- 
 ous fleet has not been sufficiently ap- 
 preciated. 
 
 The War of 1812 was the most impor- 
 tant and the most long drawn out — as 
 well as the most disastrous and destruc- 
 tive event — on the Niagara frontier in 
 the early days of the United States. 
 But besides the many operations right 
 along our river, this frontier bore its 
 part in some occurrences elsewhere 
 
 three of them being captured at the 
 surrender of IMackinaw. Ebenezer 
 Crosby, a Niagara County man, had the 
 contract to build, at Erie, four gun- 
 boats; three of which formed part of 
 Perry's victorious fleet. Five vessels 
 of that fleet, with which Perry was 
 ready to meet Commodore Barclay's 
 squadron, were prepared for service in 
 Scajaquada Creek, in the winter of 1812. 
 When the war was declared, about 
 the middle of June, 1812, there were 
 about 32 vessels, all told, on the upper 
 lakes. Of these, twenty were owned 
 by Americans; including one United 
 States vessel (which curiously was un- 
 der the control, not of the navy, but of 
 the war department), the Adams. 
 
nCTF.n B. PORTER. 
 
 Twelve were owned by the British, in- 
 cluding four brigs of war, namely Cale- 
 donia, Sfi tons; Hunter, 72 tons; Queen 
 Charlotte, 255 tons; and Lady Prevost, 
 97 tons. I am aware that it had been 
 stated on liigh authority and common- 
 ly accepted as a fact, that when the 
 war broke out, there were not over fif- 
 teen vessels, all told, on these upper 
 lakes, but this is a decided error. In 
 volume eight of the Proceedings of the 
 Buffalo Historical Society, there is 
 given a contemporary list of 24 vessels 
 which had then been built on those 
 lakes. Of these, sixteen were Ameri- 
 can, and eight were British. And in 
 1812 only one of these 24, a British ves- 
 sel, had been lost to active service. In 
 this list the Lady Washington is not 
 included. She was the first American 
 vessel on the upper lakes. She was 
 built at lOrie, and carted over the Cana- 
 dian Portage, from Chippawa to 
 Queenstown, sailed out onto Lake On- 
 tario, and was never heard of again. 
 In volume seven of that society's pro- 
 ceedings, there is given a further list 
 of such vessels, nine in all, owned by 
 Americans, and none of them included 
 in the other list. Of these nine, four 
 are recorded as having been lost; leav- 
 ing five to be added to the other 23 — a 
 total of 28 vessels in service on the up- 
 per lakes on July 1, 1812. Certainly 
 these two lists, did not contain a com- 
 plete record. Neither were entirely ac- 
 
 curate nor did they pretend to be. Un- 
 (l(>u))tedly .some vessels were omitted 
 from Ijoth. Assuming that those there- 
 in unrecorded numbered only four, 1 
 make 32 the minimum number of ves- 
 sels on Lakes Erie and Huron on July 
 1, 1812. 
 
 Then the great problem for both sides 
 was to secure control of those lakes. 
 Whichever one had the preponderance 
 in vessels, and guns thereon, would con- 
 trol them, and also control the Niagara 
 portages (then the only route from the 
 Kast to Detroit and beyond), and abso- 
 lutely prevent the other side from get- 
 ting troops, provisions, guns and am- 
 munition, to its western posts. That 
 was all there was to be shipped then, 
 for the war, of course, put an end to 
 all regular lake commercial business, 
 except as the four above-noted small 
 \essels were lured by the \'ery high 
 freights which could be obtained, to 
 risk the chances of capture by the Brit- 
 ish — mainly between Buffalo and Erie. 
 
 (Tn July 17th the British captured 
 .Mackinaw. This is not the place to de- 
 tail its strategic importance, so far as 
 its control of the fur trade went, with 
 the attendant influence of its holders 
 over the Indians, scattered over a vast 
 area. Its significance to this article is 
 that by that capture the Britisli secured 
 four American vessels; which were 
 there on commercial business. Three of 
 them were owned at Black Rock. They 
 
 ER ASTUS r, R AXOER . 
 
were the Mary, Captain Rouirli; the 
 Erie, Captain Norton, and the Friends' 
 Goodwill, Captain Lee. The fourth was 
 the Salina, Captain Dubbins, owned at 
 Erie. At the surrender of Detroit in 
 August, 1812, the British captured the 
 United States war vessel, tiie Adams, 
 and soon afterward they captured the 
 Cuyahoga Packet at Maiden, and a lit- 
 tle later the Chippawa. Somewhere on 
 Lake Erie they also captured the Ran- 
 ger and the Nancy, both owned by Por- 
 ter. Barton & Co., of Black P^ock. This 
 makes nine vessels lost to the .\nurican 
 side, and added to the British force. 
 
 The Connecticut of Black liuck (some 
 accounts erroneously call her the Com- 
 mencement) was the first vessel taken 
 by the British in the war. She was cap- 
 tured off Buffalo, but was restored to 
 her owner the next day because she had 
 been seized before news of the declara- 
 tion reached the American frontier. The 
 British (by means of a special courier 
 sent from Washington by John Jacob 
 Astor to his agent at Queenston) had 
 received the news eighteen hours ahead 
 of our side. 
 
 The following letter from General 
 Peter B. Porter confirms, though not by 
 name, the capture of the Ranger and 
 Nancy. All the other vessels owned by 
 his firm on the upper lakes are account- 
 ed for by the capture of Mackinaw or, 
 as noted hereafter, l)y sale to the United 
 .States giivernment. 
 
 Black Rock, August 30, 1812. 
 The Secretary of War: 
 
 Sir — I inclose you a copy of my letter ot 
 this date to Governor Tompkins, to which 
 I must beg your serious consideration. 
 
 For God's sake, my friend, arouse and put 
 forth the energies of the nation, and let ub 
 not be beaten by a petty province. War can 
 never be waged by tedious and two-penny cal- 
 culations ot economy in the office at Wash- 
 ington. The poor, but patriotic, citizens of 
 Ohio and the frontiers of Xew York are suf- 
 fering all the miseries of poverty and war. 
 They alone are called out because, perhaps, 
 their march to the frontiers is shorter and, 
 therefore, cheaper, while the rich inhabitants 
 of Pennsylvania are lolling in security and 
 ease. As one of the inhabitants of this fron- 
 tier, I can submit to the loss of property; I 
 can see wirh composure (which is now ac- 
 tually presented to my view) my vessels rid- 
 ing under British colors in a British harbor, 
 but I cannot endure the degradation of my 
 country. 
 
 Hence, on September 1, 1812, the Brit- 
 ish had 21 vessels on those lakes, a 
 clear gain, by capture, of nine within 
 two months: while the Americans then 
 had but eleven vessels, a clear loss of 
 nine; for they had not captured a 
 single Britisih boat. There was indeed 
 dire need for the United States to build 
 vessels at once above Niagara Falls, if 
 
 we were to have any chance of success 
 in the campaign of 1813. 
 
 The British absolutely controlled the 
 upper lakes from August, 1812, until 
 Perry's victory on Lake Erie in Sep- 
 teniber, 1813. So, early in September, 
 1S12, Commodore Chauncey, who com- 
 manded the United States fleet on Lake 
 Ontario, and who also had jurisdiction 
 over the upper lakes, ordered Lieuten- 
 ant Jesse D. Elliott to pioceed at once 
 to the Niagara frontier; and with the 
 concurrence of General Van Ptcnsselaer, 
 who commanded the army there, to 
 locate a place where he sihuuld build 
 two twent.v-gun \essels, six smaller 
 boats, with barracks for 300 men, who 
 were to be sent on from the seacoast, 
 in order to construct those vessels. Be 
 was also directed to consult with Peter 
 B. Porter and Erastus Granger at Black 
 Rock: and was authorized to buy for 
 the government every vessel he could 
 secure on the upper lakes. Curious as it 
 may seem, Elliott and General Van 
 Rensselaer decided that Scajacjuada 
 Creek was the most desirable point, pre- 
 sumably on the sole ground that there 
 already was a shipyard there, where 
 a vessel had been built as early as 1803; 
 and there Elliott actually began his 
 preparations. 
 
 On the morning of October ftth, the 
 \'ery diay on which the first body of 
 .ship c-'arpenters (50 in number), reached 
 Black Rock, two Briti.sh vessels an- 
 chored under the guns of Fort Erie. 
 
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LIEUT. JESSE U. ELLIOTT. 
 
 The>' were the Caledonia and the De- 
 troit, the latter the former United 
 States war vessel Adams, which thf 
 British bad captured at Detroit. On 
 the suggestion of Farmer's Brother, 
 that wise old Seneca, then 80 years old, 
 Elliott made plans to capture them. 
 That night ihie led 125 men, in three 
 boats, boarded both, cut them loose, and 
 let them drift with the current. He 
 succeeded in g'etting- the Caledon'ia into 
 Scajaquada creek, and' thus adding her 
 to Uncle Sam's navy. The Detroit ran 
 aground on Squaw Island, and during 
 the next day sbe was so battered by 
 the cannon on both sides, as parties 
 from either shore alternately boarded 
 her, that the Americans that night car- 
 ried asihore three of her cannon, and 
 then destroyed her by fire. They were 
 determined that, if they could ni.jt own 
 her, the Britis^h should no longer have 
 her. She had five gums mounted, and 
 there were six more in her hold, the lat- 
 ter Ijeing American cannon, whlcih had 
 been captured^ at Detroit. She also car- 
 ried a large quantity of powder and 
 ball and practically all the American 
 muskets taken at Detroit. Elliott cap- 
 tured two guns on the Caledonia, which, 
 with the three we got from tlie Detroit, 
 added five cannon to Buffalo's arma- 
 ment, and they were badly needed. 
 Eight cannon were also sunk when the 
 Americans burned the Detroit. She 
 would have been a valuable prize to our 
 navy if Elliott had been able to get 
 her into Scajaquada Creek. As it was, 
 he deprived the British of the use of 
 thirteen canmon, and much of the am- 
 munition and muskets which the Brit- 
 
 ish had so recently taken from us. The 
 picture of her capture is from the one 
 Elliott himself sent to the war depart- 
 ment, accompanying his ofhcial report 
 of tihe expedition, by which he added a 
 vessel to the United States navy, and 
 secured the ship from whose deck Perry 
 himself commanded the little squadron 
 which siailed from Biuffalo for Erie in 
 June, 1813. That one night's work had 
 robbed the British of one tenth of their 
 navy on the upper lakes, leaving the 
 relative number of vessels, British, 
 nineteen; Americans, twelve (with one 
 Briti-sh boat burned). The next day the 
 Senecas held a war dance at the Black 
 Rock navy yard, in Elliott's honor, ant 
 made b-im a member uf the tribe. 
 
 He had seen how easily he had cross- 
 ed the river, and captured British boats. 
 Why, he now reasoned, was there not 
 an equal danger of the British, at any 
 time, coming over and burning the 
 boats he was about to build, as well as 
 those he had just bought for the gov- 
 ernment? If they did that (and for 
 such an attack they could easily and 
 secretly assemble a larger force than 
 would be provided for the protection of 
 those vessels), the work of his 300 men 
 would be lost; the government would 
 be out large sums and yet would have 
 no vessel on the upper lakes. Was not 
 Scajaquada creek too close to the Brit- 
 ish shore for safety? 
 
 He consulted four men; Farmer's 
 
 CAPTAIN ,iA:\n:s sloan. 
 
Brother, who had given him such good 
 advice as to cutting out those two ves- 
 sels; Captain James Sloan of Buffalo, 
 who had been his pilot when he cap- 
 tured them; Captain Daniel Dobbins of 
 Erie, who was then in Buffalo, and 
 Captain James Rough. Dobbins had 
 been captured, as also had Rough, with 
 his vessel at Mackinaw by the British. 
 Dobbins had been paroled, and sent in 
 charge of his vessel, as a cartel, to con- 
 vey other paroled men to Detroit. There 
 General Hull insisted on detaining him; 
 and when Hull surrendered, Dobbins 
 was again a prisoner. Fiom a friendly 
 
 left Washington with a commission in 
 the United States navy and with in- 
 structions to report at once to Elliott 
 and to act under his orders. 
 
 All three of those men fully concur- 
 red with the advice which Porter and 
 Granger had already given, namely, 
 that Black Rock was too exposed to 
 danger and too easily reached by the 
 enemy, to be a safe selection for a ship- 
 yard where new vessels were to be con- 
 structed. They all pointed out the un- 
 deniable fact that it would be impos- 
 sible to get the vessels Elliott had just 
 bought, or new vessels, from the creek 
 
 
 CAPTAIN DANIEL DOBBINS. 
 
 British officer he secured a pass and 
 managed to make his way back to 
 Erie. From there General Mead sent 
 him direct to Washington; where he 
 brought the first news of the fall of 
 Mackinaw and Detroit to the war de- 
 partment. He retold that news to the 
 cabinet in session, and was asked to 
 rehearse the situation on the lakes; and 
 also specially asked for his advice as to 
 the preparations, and the conduct of, 
 the next season's campaign on the 
 lakes. His familiarity with the condi- 
 tions thereon gave great weight to his 
 advice. He urged the immediate con- 
 struction by the government of several 
 vessels and recommended Erie, Pa., as 
 the best place for their construction. He 
 
 into Lake Erie, so long as the British 
 held Fort Erie. The only means then 
 known by which vessels could be got 
 up the rapids at Black Rock was liter- 
 ally to haul them up by power furnish- 
 ed by many yokes of oxen, or by large 
 numbers of men. It would take a whole 
 day, with either power, to drag each 
 boat into Lake Erie. And, during a 
 day, the guns of Fort Erie, and of the 
 four batteries which the British had 
 opposite those rapids, could not fail to 
 destroy a slowly moving \'essel. There 
 was an expectancy, there was a hope, 
 that in the spring the Americans would 
 capture Fort Erie, but there was no 
 certainty of it. They all decidedly a 1- 
 vised against building the vessels there. 
 
 10 
 
This solid reasoniner convinced Elli- 
 ott. He decided to build the boats 
 elsewhere. He got General Van Rens- 
 selaer's consent; and, largely on Cap- 
 tain Dob'bins's advice, selected Erie, and 
 thither he sent more than two thirds of 
 the carpenters who soon arrived at Buf- 
 falo. The rest of them he kept at Black 
 Rock, where they were set to work 
 transforming the merchant vessels 
 which he had just bought at Black Rock 
 into gunboats. These vessels could not 
 now be got into Lake Erie, in the face 
 of Fort Erie's guns, so they had to re- 
 main in the creek. Elliott secured Gen- 
 eral Van Rensselaer's promise that an 
 ample force should be detailed to guard 
 them during the winter. 
 
 On December 19, 1812, Captain Dobbins 
 wrote from Erie to the secretary of the 
 navy: "In regard to the vessels cut 
 down and in an unfinished state at 
 Black Rock, there can be little confi- 
 dence placed in their safety. The yard 
 is within reach of the enemy's batteries, 
 and, if finished, the vessels could be cut 
 to pieces in passing up the rapids into 
 the lake." On the very same day the 
 secretary of war wrote to General Dear- 
 born, directing him to sanction General 
 Smyth's retirement. And he added: 
 "The President feels great anxiety for 
 the vessels at Black Rock, as the enemy 
 may seize the opportunity to destr ^y 
 them." The "opportunity" was the ut- 
 ter failure of Smyth's widely heralded 
 and much-prepared plan for the inva- 
 sion of Canada from that place. 
 
 In that creek were six vessels, one 
 the Canadian brig Caledonia of 85 tons, 
 which Eliott had just captured, with 
 her two cannon. The others Elliott had 
 bought. As I make it out, there were 
 but four other American boats on that 
 lake; all small (Dobbins names three of 
 them: Dove, twenty tons; Eagle, 25 
 tons; Teazer, twenty tons), all in port 
 at either Erie or Sandusky. All the other 
 American vessels on' Lake Erie, and all 
 such vessels sailing on Lake Huron, 
 were already prizes in British hands. 
 Daniel Dobbins says all American ves- 
 sels on the lakes w'ere either purchased 
 by the United States or captured by 
 the British. Of the twenty American 
 merchant vessels on the upper lakes 
 when war was declared. Porter, Barton 
 & Co. of Black Rock seem to have own- 
 ed five, and to have had a half interest 
 in two others. That firm also had three 
 or four boats on Lake Ontario. All of 
 their vessels, on both lakes, which had 
 not been captured by the British were 
 taken over by our government, as were 
 
 also all other American boats, both on 
 Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. 
 
 At Black Rock Elliott bought five 
 boats as follows; 
 
 The sloop Contractor, of 64 tons, built 
 at Black Rock in 1803. owned by Por- 
 ter, Barton & Co., was now renamed 
 the Trippe. 
 
 The schooner Amelia, "0 tons, bulk 
 at Detroit in 1802, Porter, Barton & 
 Co. owned a half interest. She had 
 once been called the General Wilkinson, 
 and was now renamed the Tigress. 
 
 The schooner Ohio, of 60 tons, built 
 at Erie in 18u6. Porter, Barton & Co. 
 owned a half interest. 
 
 The sahooner Catharine, 90 tons, built 
 at La Salle, 1810, owned by Townsend, 
 Bronson & Co. She was renamed the 
 Somers. 
 
 The sloop Connecticut, 25 tons, buill 
 a.t Black Rock, owned b\- Peter Colt of 
 that place. 
 
 I know that historians name four 
 vessels of Perry's fleet in the famous 
 battle as liaving been outfitted at Black 
 Rock, which is correct. But it iit a 
 detail which is not often recorded that 
 six vessels were at Scajaquada Creek 
 that winter, and that all six of them 
 sailed from Buffalo under Perry's com- 
 mand. They were the five just named 
 and the Caledonia. 
 
 The frontispiece shows six vessels. 
 The Connecticut certainly was at Black 
 Rock in September. She had been cap- 
 tured off Buffalo on June 26th, but was 
 restored the next day, and her owner 
 would not allow her to leave port again. 
 
 The picture — given as a frontispiece — 
 was published in the Portfolio, in 1815. 
 The accompanying letterpress says it 
 "exhibits a correct view, taken on the 
 spot, of the port of Buffaloe on Lake 
 Erie, at the time of the landing of a 
 part of General Harrison's troops." 
 
 That publication was issued at Phila- 
 delphia; in which city was the head 
 office of the Holland Company — which 
 then owned Buffalo; was interested in 
 keeping that village before the public — 
 and was also a good advertiser. 
 
 The picture most certainly does not 
 "correctly represent" Harrison's land- 
 ing. It shows six vessels: fi\'e of them 
 about of a size, the other one smaller. 
 Xow, Perry's fleet, carrying a part of 
 Harrison's army, consisted of eight ves- 
 sels, and they all reached Buffalo to- 
 gether, on October 24, 1813. One of the 
 vessels carried the horses; for between 
 150 and 200 of those troops were cavalry 
 — Ball's command. Of the other seven, 
 three were brigs, two schooners, and 
 two sloops. But three of those vessels 
 
 U 
 
were very large for that day on the 
 lakes. The Niagara carried twenty 
 guns; the Lady Prevost, thirteen guns; 
 and the Hunter, ten guns' — the two lat- 
 ter having been captured by Perry in 
 the battle. 
 
 The wrong number of vessels, and the 
 fact that it represents NO large vessels 
 in the fleet, proves conclusively that it 
 was not Harrison's landing. Again, 
 Harrison brought 1,300 men: and there 
 is not even a suggestion of such a num- 
 ber in the picture. 
 
 At this late date it is impossible to 
 actually produce further proof that the 
 picture does not represent what it 
 claims to be; but the deduction is so 
 plain that it is almost equal to proof. 
 
 What happened was undoubtedly this: 
 Two years after both events occurred. 
 
 six vessels from Scajaquada Creek, up 
 the rapids, into Lake Erie. This done, 
 they were ordered to embark and £tc- 
 company the vessels to Erie, as a pro- 
 tection against a much feared (and, as 
 it turned out, a very narrowly escaped) 
 attack from the British fleet, which was 
 known to be at this end of the lake. 
 
 The picture in itself is perfect proof 
 that Perrj' took six vessels from Buf- 
 falo; five of them armed, and the small- 
 est one unarmed. The latter was in- 
 tended for use as a scout boat. Perry's 
 success as commodore was dependent 
 on his getting those five armed \'essels 
 to Erie, there to join the vessels which 
 had just been built there. A scout boat 
 was absolutely necessary for him on 
 this trip, and was not needed after his 
 safe arrival. He was very particular 
 
 GUNBOATS OF 1812. 
 
 the Holland Land Company had the 
 picture prepared — with the correct 
 number and sizes of the vessels, and a 
 correct number of soldiers in boats; to 
 represent Perry's sailing from Buffalo 
 for Erie, on June 13, 1813. 
 
 Then some bright man and good ad- 
 vertiser — probably a clerk In^ the com- 
 pany's office— suggested that the arrival 
 of a victorious army at the Holland 
 Land Company's village of Buffalo 
 would be a better advertisement for the 
 sale of lots there, than the mere sail- 
 ing of a part of a fleet that later be- 
 came famous. So the plate was left 
 unchanged; but the suggestion was 
 adopted, so far as the descriptive article 
 was concerned. 
 
 The soldiers in the boats represent, 
 and correctly, the embarkation of the 
 200 soldiers who had been' sent from 
 Fort George to Buffalo, to help haul the 
 
 in his orders as to just how those five 
 armed vessels were to line up on the 
 trip — both W'hen sailing abreast, and 
 also when sailing one behind the other. 
 In those orders he never mentioned the 
 Connecticut, because she was never in- 
 tended to be a part of either line. She 
 was always to be far in advance, "on 
 .scout duty." 
 
 A picture is gi\'en herewith, show- 
 ing the kinds and sizes of the Ameri- 
 can gunboats in 1812. They constituted 
 170, out of a total of 190, of our Ameri- 
 can navy then. It undoubtedly shows 
 what those Black Rock vessels looked 
 like, wihen they had been transformed. 
 
 Elliott was ordered to the Lake On- 
 tario ports in December, and did not 
 return to Black Rock untii May. From 
 his departure until Perry's arrival in 
 February, 1813, Sailing Master Dobbins 
 was in charge of the upper lakes, under 
 
 12 
 
Commodore Chauncey. But Perry was 
 g'iven a separate and full control of 
 those upper lakes, and Chauncey was 
 left in charge of Lake Ontario. Lieu- 
 tenanl; Angus was in comniiind of the 
 Black Rock navy yard until 1S13, when 
 he was ordered to the coast, I^ieutonant 
 Pettigrew succeeding him ih.ere. 
 
 Those six vessels were hauled up on 
 the banks of Scajaquada Creek, and 
 during the winter, five were cut down 
 and made over into gunboats. A strong 
 guard of soldiers was maintained close 
 to them, for their protection against an 
 always feared sudden attack from the 
 Canadian shore. In the early spring 
 they were again launched in the creek, 
 and lay there to await the result of the 
 contemplated attack by the Americans 
 of Fort George late in May, which if 
 
 had towed them into Scajaquada Creek, 
 a battery was ordered built, on the 
 south side thereof, just east of the navy 
 yard, facing north, and so placed as 
 to control the bridge over it, which, ex- 
 cept for the one far to the east (on the 
 road to Batavia, that is the present 
 Main street), was the only such struc- 
 ture o'v'er that stream. Henry Eckford, 
 who later achieved such fame as a 
 naval constructor, came here several 
 times during that winter, for it was 
 under his plans and directions that five 
 of those boats were made ready for 
 warfare. 
 
 At the end of May, 1813, the Ameri- 
 cans captured Fort George, at the 
 mouth of our river, and the Canadians 
 Then abandoned the entire frontier. 
 The Americans at once occupied Fort 
 
 VESSELS HAULED UP IN SCAJAQUADA CREEK. 
 
 successful would result (as it did) in 
 their reaching Lake Erie. 
 
 Strange as it now seems, during all 
 that time the British made no attempt 
 to destroy them. But they knew the 
 Americans could not get them up into 
 the lake as long as the British held 
 Fort Erie. Again they may have reas- 
 oned that they had better let the Amer- 
 icans get them into fighting trim, and 
 then try to capture them, also captur- 
 ing the villages of Buffalo and Black 
 Rock. 
 
 On the arrival of the ship carpenters, 
 the little battery near the Block House 
 was materially enlarged, and strength- 
 ened, being known thereafter as The 
 Sailors' Battery. Up to the time El- 
 liott reached Black Rock, in Septem- 
 ber, 1812, all the batteries which had 
 been built thereabouts after the dec- 
 laration of war, had faced Canada, 
 there was no defense against a British 
 attack from the north. But, when El- 
 liott had bought those five vessels, and 
 
 Erie. Perry himself came to Black 
 Rock on June 1st from Fort George, 
 at \Ahose capture he had commanded 
 the seamen, and on June 13th all six 
 of those vessels had been hauled up 
 the ra,pids and set sail for Erie. Five 
 of them were armed. The other, the 
 <'onnecticut, was unarmed. Perry used 
 her as a scout, for he was taking every 
 precaution to enable him to get those 
 fl^■e armed boats to Erie. It was 
 not Perry's first visit to Buffalo. 
 He had been here in March on his 
 way to Erie, he had then inspected 
 those ve.'^sels in the creek, and had ex- 
 pressed approval of the progress that 
 had been made on them. Five were 
 now armed with cannon taken from the 
 batteries at Black Rock; and under 
 Perry's command, they sailed for Erie 
 on June 13th. "When Perry returned to 
 Buffalo that fall, he was the Hero of 
 Lake Erie. He was accompanied by 
 General "William Henry Harrison, and 
 they were publicly feted by the people 
 
 13 
 
of the two villages, General Porter pre- 
 sided at the banquet which they gave 
 them; and the tw^o villages were illumi- 
 nated in their honor. 
 
 In a History of the Battle of Lake 
 Erie, written by Captain W. W. Dob- 
 bins and based on his father's papers, 
 he says that one of the vessels thus 
 t;iken from Black Rock "was condemn- 
 ed on examination after reaching Erie 
 and sunk in the harbor." That was the 
 old Amelia (now the Tigress), she 
 being unrepairable after the battle 
 was fought. When Perry's fleet left 
 Erie on August 12th it consisted of 
 ten vessels, five of which had come 
 from Black Rock. Of these the Cale- 
 donia, Trippe, Tigress and Somers took 
 part in the Battle of Lake Erie on Sep- 
 tember 10, 1813. The Ohio, under com- 
 mand of that experienced sailor, Daniel 
 
 twelve-year-old-vessel and the war de- 
 partment had built no fortification to 
 offset Fort Erie. On August 30, 1812, 
 Peter B. Porter wrote from Black Rock 
 to Governor Tompkins: "In March last 
 I urged on the President and to the 
 secretaries of war and the navy the ne- 
 cessity of having a naval force on the 
 lake superior to that of the British, 
 which might have been done at an ex- 
 pense of less than $100,000 (as I then 
 demonstrated), and ready to act by the 
 first of July." His good advice was not 
 heeded. 
 
 One or two small sloops are said to 
 have been built at Black Rock in the 
 winter of 1812-13. The guard and the 
 camp of soldiers which the United 
 States maintained at and near the navy 
 yard caused their builders to feel that 
 thev could take the risk of their de- 
 
 BRIDGE OVEE SCAJAQUADA CREEK, 1812. 
 
 Dobbins, had been sent awaj' a few 
 days before by Perry for provisions. She 
 had not got back when Barclay's fleet 
 (for which Perry had been cruising) 
 was sighted, and Perry rushed into bat- 
 tle with nine vessels. Two of his fleet 
 had been built on the Niagara river; 
 one (the Somers) at La Salle, the other 
 (the Trippe) at Black Rock. Of the six 
 vessels in the British fleet, two were 
 prizes which had been captured from 
 the Americans: and one of these (when 
 captured the Friends Goodwill, re- 
 named th« Little Belt) was built at 
 Black Rock. 
 
 The navy department had treated 
 Buffalo and the frontier just as badly 
 as the war department had treated 
 them. All the signs had pointed to a 
 certain declaration of war against 
 Great Britain for at least eight months 
 before the President signed the meas- 
 ure. Yet the navy department had 
 made no move during that time toward 
 building any war vessels on the upper 
 lakes, where its sole strength was one 
 
 struction by the British. There was not 
 a single vessel left in private hands at 
 thi.s end of the lake. Hence, if, in the 
 spring of 1813, the Americans should be 
 able to end the war victoriously, there 
 would at once be a large amount of 
 lake business, at very profitable prices, 
 for any boats that were then ready to 
 take cargoes. 
 
 It should be noted that this Scajaqua- 
 da Creek derives its name from an old 
 Indian, a descendant of the Neuters, 
 who once dwelt hereabouts, John Con- 
 jocety by name. He dwelt at its mouth, 
 and his son, Philip, continued to dwell 
 there until 1807. The erection of the 
 blockhouse and the presence of the sol- 
 diers then caused him to remove to the 
 Seneca village on Buffalo creek. He 
 died about 1870. and the claim that he 
 was 102 years old was generally believed 
 to be correct. 
 
 And so, as above narrated, on the 
 banks of Scajaquada Creek there were 
 prepared and armed one half of the 
 number of vessels with which Commo- 
 
 14 
 
dore Perry sailed from Erie to attack 
 the British lake squadron, which result- 
 ed in the battle of Lake Erie— the only 
 instance in history where a British fleet, 
 in its entirety, ever surrendered. 
 
 Whether the Americans recovered 
 those eig'ht cannon from the Detroit, as 
 her hulk lay in comparatively shallow 
 
 water on the west side of Squaw Is- 
 land, 1 have never been able to learn. 
 As we controlled both shores of the Ni- 
 agara river from the last of May until 
 December in 1813 our men could have 
 removed them during that period with- 
 out interference. Can any of my read- 
 ers throw any light on that point? 
 
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 MOUTH OF SCA.JAQUADA CREEK, 1812. 
 
 15 
 
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 JAN 1989 
 
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