Ghosts of 1812 - The Battle of Stoney Creek Traditional Cache

Part of the "Ghosts of 1812" Series.  This cache is a small container suitable for small trackables, coins a swag.  It contains pad, pen and some small trickets.  Congratulations to Jim3291 for being the first to find this cache! And now the story...

The Battle of Stoney Creek occurred on the night of 5-6 June 1813. With the capture of Fort George in late May, US Major General Henre Dearborn was poised to renew an aggressive campaign in Upper Canada, but indecision and poor weather forestalled American Brigadier Winder and his 1400 men from marching toward Burlington until 2 June, followed by another brigade under the command of Brigadier Chandler. Both units met at Forty Mile (Grimsby, Ont), setting out for Stoney Creek on 5 June where they camped overnight in a field beside the road.

The rather casual pace and attitude of the US forces provided an opportunity for the British. One the major heros of this battle was a 19 year old local boy named Billy Green.  Billy had gathered critical intelligence on the approaching US forces, including their location and disposition. Much like Laura Secord's trek in Niagara, Billy Green rode on horseback to the British forces at Burlington, where he was initially considered an American spy. Green quickly shared all he had heard with Lieutenant Colonel John Harvey, who had also obtained passwords of the US forces at Stoney Creek from a recently paroled prisoner. There were few sentries, and they were ill placed; the nearby forest also offered excellent cover.

Lieutenant Colonel Harvey convinced his superior officers to make a dangerous night raid against the sleeping enemy, to hit them hard and fast before they could consolidate their forces with reinforcements. In the dead of night Harvey and 700 men of the 8th and 49th regiments initiated a surprise night attack on the 3500 invading American troops. Harvey's men marched in silence, the flint being removed from their muskets to prevent any accidental firing. According to a statement left to his grandson, Green, a native of Stoney Creek, was asked to lead the way through the forest.

The sentries were bayoneted before they could sound the alarm and the enemy was poorly organized, but so were some of the British regulars who refused the order to keep quiet and fired their muskets too early. The Americans awoke to find their camp swarming with redcoats, illuminated by firelight, and they were hard pressed to load their muskets as the British unleashed their attack. Despite the confusion and heavy bloodshed, Harvey’s forces managed a raid retreat with critical booty. Major Charles Plenderleath, commanding officer of the British 49th Regiment, ordered his men to capture the enemy’s field guns before they had time to load. Chandler, seeing the commotion at the guns, ran to reorganize the men, whom he thought were his own, and he was captured by the British at bayonet point. The same fate awaited Winder, and both senior brigade commanders were captured with the guns, crippling both the command structure and the possible firepower the Americans might have used to rally and change the raid into a rout. Instead, the British retreated with a decisive victory.

It was a brazen, dangerous and successful raid that turned on luck as much as skill, but it paid off for the British. Still, the cost was heavy: 23 killed, 134 wounded and five missing. The Americans suffered 55 killed or wounded, with 100 thought to be missing, and soon retreated to Fort George, with British and Aboriginal scouts chasing them on land.

The Battle of Stoney Creek was a turning point for American operations in Upper Canada. While they still controlled Fort George, their range of movement to extend and consolidate this gain was limited by the series of British outposts that penned them in, and the fear of First Nations warriors conducting guerrilla warfare tactics in the wilds. Along with the Battle of Beaverdams two weeks later, the engagement at Stoney Creek returned the Niagara Penninsula to British and Canadian control and ended the US attempt to conquer the western part of the province. The battle was also a turning point in Harvey’s career, which would soon add more victories to its tally at Chrysler's Farm, Lundy's Lane and Fort Erie. 

Be sure to visit all the caches in this series! So far, the series includes the 18 caches listed below...

Ghosts of 1812 - Battle of Queenston Heights GC3P0M2

Ghosts of 1812 - Decew House GC3NVYK

Ghosts of 1812 - Engagement at the Forty GC62DG2

Ghosts of 1812 - Raid on Port Dover GC6374A

Ghosts of 1812 - Shirmish at Butler's Farm GC3VHKE

Ghosts of 1812 - Siege of Fort Erie GC62BWX

Ghosts of 1812 - The Battle for Fort George GC3R61W

Ghosts of 1812 - The Battle of Beaverdams GC3PJP9

Ghosts of 1812 - The Battle of Cook's Mills GC3WNPX

Ghosts of 1812 - The Battle of Frenchman's Creek GC424AM

Ghosts of 1812 - The Battle of Lundy's Lane GC3P22C

Ghosts of 1812 - The Battle of Stoney Creek GC3QAQE

Ghosts of 1812 - The Battlefield at Chippawa GC6382A

Ghosts of 1812 - The Burning of Niagara GC3V685

Ghosts of 1812 - The Capture of "Ohio" and "Somers" GC62DE6

Ghosts of 1812 - The Destruction of Fort Chippawa GC3QATK

Ghosts of 1812 - The Fall of a Warrior GC64FF3

Ghosts of 1812 - The Trek of Laura Secord GC3X4J2