The War of 1812 and the Tonawanda Block House

The War of 1812 and the Tonawanda Block House

Parts of the War of 1812 are fought right on our front porch, as tensions grow between the United States and the British colonies (including Canada). 

The U. S. military builds a guard-house (or blockhouse) on the south shore of Tonawanda Creek in 1811 (Lossing). From History of Erie County:

Just before the War of 1812, a block-house was built on the south side of Tonawanda creek, near its mouth. In August of that year it contained sixteen soldiers. A rumor got abroad that the British and Indians had taken possession of Grand Island and might, perhaps, cross to the mainland. The few men of the vicinity were called to the guard-house; a day or two later several hundred British Indians appeared on the shore of Grand Island opposite Tonawanda. The soldiers and citizens were turned out and after parading in sight of the enemy were marched back, and then reappeared with their coats turned wrong side out, to impress the enemy with the idea that a new force had arrived. Whether on account of this strategy, or for other reasons, the Indians did not attempt to cross the river.

* One of the soldiers who serves in the blockhouse is Colonel John Sweeney. (Brother James settled in Buffalo in 1811 [ Landmarks]). He will later be wounded in the first serious engagement in Queenston, part of a failed multi-pronged offensive against British Canada. 

The long-expected war comes on December 19, 1813, when the British launch a surprise attack across the Niagara River, landing first at Youngstown. They quickly take Fort Niagara. Two days later, they (or their Indian allies, as some historians state) burn villages and terrorize villagers all the way to Tonawanda Creek, stopping only when they encounter the bridge across Tonawanda Creek burned by retreating Americans and possibly Wilcox and the Canadian Volunteers. From Lossing's Pictorial Field Book:

The whole Niagara frontier on the American side, from Fort Niagara to Tonewanta Creek, a distance of thirty-six miles, and far into the interior, was swept with the besom of destruction placed by British authority in the hands of savage pagans. Manchester, Schlosser, and Tuscarora Village shared the fate of Youngstown and Lewiston. Free course was given to the blood-thirsty Indians, and many innocent persons were butchered, and survivors were made to fly in terror through the deep snow to some forest shelter or remote cabin of a settler far beyond the invaders' track. Buffalo, too, would have been plundered and destroyed had not the progress of the foe been checked by the timely destruction of the bridge over the Tonewanta Creek.

Babcock, in his War of 1812 on the Niagara Frontier, also puts the bridge destruction on the 21st, but does not mention Wilcox and the Volunteers:

On December 21st, Riall pressed on and burned the buildings at Manchester (Niagara Falls) and Fort Schlosser. Major Mallory feebly opposed the advance and then retreated on Buffalo and the British were not checked until they reached the bridge over Tonawanda Creek which had been destroyed by the retiring Americans. Riall then withdrew his column to the other side of the river. While this was occurring details destroyed the mills and dwellings for a considerable distance along the Ridge Road and the shores of Lake Ontario.

Such are the bald facts covering the acts of the British forces during a period of four days. Not only had Youngstown, Lewiston, Manchester, Schlosser and the outlying farms been given over to the torch, but the western Indians had been turned loose to ravish and murder innocent women and children.

Another account, from History of Erie County, puts the burning of the Tonawanda guard-house around 12/26, and does not mention the British being stymied by a burned bridge. An interesting mention is made of a north side "log tavern" spared by the British, in what would have been present-day North Tonawanda:

About a week later, just before the attack on Buffalo, a detachment of the enemy came up from the captured fort, burning every building along the road. They burned the guard-house before mentioned, and all the other buildings in the vicinity, with one exception. There was no village, but there were a few log farm-houses scattered along the road, and we believe, a log tavern on the north side of the creek. The building which was not burned was occupied by Mrs. Francis (a daughter of Robert Simson,) who was sick and unable to flee. Her house was set on fire three times, and each time she crawled downstairs and extinguished the flames; probably the house was of logs, and did not burn easily.

Treaty of Ghent is signed in late 1813, essentialy a stalemate between the two powers. (Battle of New Orleans January 1814, before news arrives.)

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From the New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center:

Tonawanda Blockhouse: 1812, Erie County, Tonawanda. One small blockhouse existed on the south shore of the Tonawanda Creek at the War of 1812. A trick with marching troops prevented attack in 1812, but in December 1813 the blockhouse and unnamed settlement were burned. The settlement eventually became Niagara Village and later split into Tonawanda (Erie County) and North Tonawanda (Niagara County).

See also: Video and this video about the role of blockhouses in the War of 1812.

1812