Alexander Dobbs: A Royal Navy Officer on Lake Ontario

In Company by Peter Rindlisbacher. HMS St Lawrence followed by
Prince Regent, and Star commanded by Commander Alexander Dobbs

When students in Ontario are taught about the War of 1812, they typically learn about events such as the Battle of Queenston Heights (1812), the Battle of Crysler's Farm (1813) and the Battle of Lundy's Lane (1814); or individuals such as Isaac Brock, Tecumseh, Laura Secord, and Richard Pierpoint. Far less attention is paid to the activities of the Royal Navy on the Great Lakes, apart from their disastrous loss to the Americans at the Battle of Lake Erie (1813).

One person who experienced the War of 1812 as a Royal Navy officer on the Great Lakes was Alexander Dobbs. Alexander Thomas Dobbs was likely born in Dublin, Ireland about 1784, the fourth son of Francis Dobbs (1750-1811) and Jane Stewart (1873-1828). Francis Dobbs was an Irish barrister, author, poet, and parliamentarian who was opposed to the 1800 Act of Union with Great Britain.

Alexander Dobbs joined the Royal Navy in 1799 as a midshipman aboard the frigate Santa Margarita. He received his commission as a lieutenant at the age of 20. While a passenger on the Thetis bound for Barbados, he helped repel an attack by the French privateer Le Buonaparte.

After serving in the West Indies on the Epervier, he was invalided home suffering from yellow fever. After his recovery he served on a number of different vessels including Confiance, Topaze, Northumberland, and Leviathan. Dobbs saw action in both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean during the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815).

Leviathan, Imperieuse, Curacoa, and Eclair attacking
two towns on the coast of Genoa, June 27th 1812

In April 1812, Dobbs led an attack using Leviathan's boats on several French vessels moored near Frejus on the Côte d'Azur, capturing four merchant vessels and damaging a privateer. Two months later, Dobbs participated in the destruction a French convoy which had assembled at Alassio and Laigueglia on the Gulf of Genoa. In his report of the action, Captain Patrick Campbell made special mention of Alexander Dobbs:

I feel much indebted to Lieutenant Dobbs, first of this ship, for his judicious arrangement in disembarking, embarking, and covering the marines, as they advanced to the different batteries.

In the spring of 1813, the Admiralty sent Commodore Sir James Lucus Yeo (1782-1818) and a contingent of 465 officers and men to Canada. Among the officers was Lieutenant Dobbs who had briefly served under Yeo on the Confiance. Yeo's contingent arrived at Kingston, Upper Canada in May 1813. Shortly after arriving in Kingston, Dobbs was promoted to acting commander and given command of the HMS Earl of Moira.

Commodore Sir James Lucas Yeo

Moira was a 14-gun schooner built in 1805 at the Kingston Royal Navy Dockyard in Kingston. The schooner measured 21.5 metres in length with a beam of 7.2 metres and a draught of 2.1 metres. In 1813, Moira was re-rigged as a brig and re-armed with two 9-pounder guns and fourteen 24-pounder carronades. A carronade was a short, smoothbore, cast-iron cannon with a relatively short range. In 1814 the armament was changed to a single 18-pounder and twelve 24-pounder carronades.

Later that month, Moira supported the British assault at the Second Battle of Sackett's Harbour, an unsuccessful attempt to capture the principal dockyard and base for the American naval squadron on Lake Ontario.

In June 1813, Moira transported elements of the 8th Regiment of Foot to 40 Mile Creek on the Niagara Peninsula following the British victory at the Battle of Stoney Creek.

Moira was with Yeo's squadron when it briefly engaged the American fleet near the mouth of the Genesee River on 11 Sep 1813.

Enemy in Sight by Peter Rindlisbacher. HMS Wolfe
followed by the Royal George, Melville, and Moira

On 28 Sep 1813, Moira again saw action when Yeo's squadron engaged the American squadron, commanded by Commodore Isaac Chauncey, south of York. Moira was fourth in the line of battle. During the battle an exchange of broadsides with the American flagship, USS General Pike, severely damaged Yeo's flagship, HMS Wolfe. Commander William Mulcaster of the Royal George maneuvered his ship between the Pike and Wolfe, allowing Wolfe to disengaged. Meanwhile Moira and Melville engaged other ships of the American squadron.

Once Wolfe was clear and heading west towards the head of Lake Ontario, the rest of Yeo's ships turned and followed. Chauncey ordered his fleet to chase down the British squadron, but an east wind and faster ships allowed Yeo to escape with his squadron intact. At the end of the lake, Yeo formed a battle line close into shore. Chauncey, recognizing that maneuvering his ships would be risky and dangerous, broke off the pursuit. The engagement would later be facetiously dubbed the "Burlington Races."

In his report of the battle, Yeo wrote:

[When] the main and mizzen topmasts of this ship were shot away, by which she became unmanageable on the wind, I put the squadron before the wind for a small bay at the head of the lake where he [Chauncey] would have been under the necessity of engaging on more equal terms. this however he declined ... and on approaching the bay, he hauled off, leaving us in this state perfectly unmolested to refit the squadron.

In early November 1813, Moira was part of an detachment that bombarded American forces staging at French Creek on the south bank of the St Lawrence River opposite Grindstone Island. While American artillery forced the British to withdraw, the forces that had gathered at French Creek would later be defeated at the Battle of Crysler's Farm.

In January 1814, HMS Earl of Moira was renamed HMS Charwell. Dobbs remained in command.

On 14 Feb 1814, Alexander was promoted to Commander. Three days later he married Mary Magdalen Cartwright, daughter of Kingston merchant Richard Cartwright, and granddaughter of James Secord. The marriage was noted in the journal of Lieutenant John Le Couteur of the 104th Regiment of Foot:

Captain Henry Alexander Stewart Dobbs RN, a prime Sailor and Gentleman, having invited our rector, the Reverend Mr. Stuart to attend for the occasion, He was united in marriage to dear rattle, Mary Cartwright, the daughter of Colonel Cartwright ... at Eight o'clock this evening. The happy couple were to have gone to Montreal for their honeymoon but a rumour of an Attack coming to ear this morning ... no leave could be thought of.

On 4 May 1814, Yeo's squadron of eight vessels, 900 sailors, 400 marines, and an additional 550 soldiers weighed anchor and sailed for Oswego. The Battle of Fort Oswego on 6 May 1814 saw Charwell firing its long guns as it escorted the bateaux and gunboats towards the beach. The British captured the fort, and over two thousand barrels of flour, pork, salt, and ordnance stores were brought back to the ships offshore.

Storming Fort Oswego. Toronto Public Library

In June 1814, Dobbs was given command of HMS Star, a brig launched at Kingston on 20 July 1813. At the time of her launch she was christened HMS Lord Melville, but was renamed HMS Star in January 1814. Star measured 21.8 metres in length with a beam of 7.5 metres and a draught of 3.0 metres. The initial complement of 98 was composed of 60 officers and crew and 38 Royal Marines. When Dobbs assumed command, Star was armed with two 18-pounder long guns and twelve 32-pounder carronades.

In July, Commander Dobbs was placed in charge of a detachment sent to support the British Army in the Niagara Peninsula. The detachment, consisting of the Star, Charwell, Magnet, and Netley, ferried soldiers and supplies from York across Lake Ontario to Fort George and Fort Niagara.

Plan of the Mouth of the Niagara River.
Brock University Archives

Star arrived at York on 17 July and rendezvoused with Charwell which had arrived two days earlier. On the evening of 23 Jul 1814, the Star and Charwell sailed from York with a detachment of 400 officers and men from the 2nd Battalion, 89th Regiment of Foot. The next day, Netley, commanded by Lieutenant Charles Radcliffe, ferried Lieutenant General Drummond across to Niagara. Drummond would go on to command British forces at the Battle of Lundy's Lane and the Siege of Fort Erie.

On 3 Jul 1814, 3500 American soldiers commanded by Major General Jacob Brown crossed the Niagara River and captured Fort Erie, then advanced north and defeated the British at the Battle of Chippawa two days later. On 25 Jul 1814, during one of the bloodiest battles of the War of 1812, the British and Americans met again at the Battle of Lundy's Lane. Although the battle was a stalemate, the Americans, having suffered hundreds of casualties, withdrew back to Fort Erie.

Following the Battle of Lundy's Lane, Dobbs detachment carried wounded and prisoners from Niagara to York. Dobbs noted in a report to Commodore Yeo: "These brave fellows came out of the Hospitals, and requested me to carry them over to join their Gallant Comrades.”

On 5 Aug 1814, Magnet was intercepted by Chauncey's squadron while carrying munitions from York to Niagara. Her captain, Lieutenant George Hawkesworth, beached Magnet near Four Mile Creek to the west of the mouth of the Niagara River. Hawkeworth salvaged what he could, then destroyed Magnet and her remaining cargo in an explosion that was heard and felt in York, 48 kilometres across the lake. Having failed to capture Magnet, the Americans then blockaded Dobbs detachment in the mouth of the Niagara River.

Dobbs reported on the destruction of the Magnet in a letter to Commodore Yeo dated 7 Aug 1814:

I have the honor to inform you that the American Squadron made their appearance off this place yesterday.

The Charwell, Netley and Magnet Sailed from York on the 5th with Troops and Stores the two former got safe in her on the morning of the 6th but the Magnet being by some unfortunate circustance to leeward was obliged to run on Shore and on the approach of the American Squadron she was blown up by Lieutenant Hawksworth who reports to me that all the Stores were saved. I hope Sir you will not think that I have been their Guardian too long. The Situation of General Drummond's Army required some risque to be had for their Support.

Following the Battle of Lundy's Lane, General Drummond's forces slowly advanced on Fort Erie. The construction of siege lines and batteries began on 4 August but was hampered by fire from three American schooners anchored in the Niagara River: Ohio, Somers, and Porcupine. American forces had controlled Lake Erie for almost a year since the Battle of Lake Erie on 10 Sep 1813. With Drummond's approval, Dobbs devised a plan to board and capture the schooners.

Ohio, Somers, and Porcupine off Fort Erie

Seventy Royal Navy sailors and Royal Marines portaged the Charwell's gig from Queenston to Chippewa, then headed overland with the gig and five batteau to a point on Lake Erie several kilometres west of the Niagara River. Shortly after midnight on 12 Aug 1814, Dobbs launched his boarding attack. A lookout on board Somers called a challenge. but the officer of the deck was fooled into believing that the British vessels were American provision boats. The Ohio and Somers were quickly captured. The captain of the Ohio reported, "that as their force was an overwhelming one, I thought further resistance vain & gave up the vessel with the satisfactionof having performed my duty and defended my vessel to the last."

Porcupine, meanwhile, cut its anchor cables and was able to escape. The American's suffered one killed and 70 captured, while the British suffered two killed and four wounded. One of the dead was Lieutenant Charles Ratcliffe, captain of the Netley, who was killed as he tried to scale the stern of the Ohio.

In his report to Commodore Yeo, Dobbs wrote:

Having succeeded in getting my gig and five Batteaux across from the Niagara River to Lake Erie, a distance of Eight Miles by land—I last night attacked the Three Enemy’s Schooners that had anchored close to Fort Erie—for the purpose of flanking the approaches to that fort.— Two of them were carried sword in hand in a few minutes, and the third would certainty have fallen—had the Cables not been cut, which made us drift to Leeward of her, among the Rapids— The schooners taken are the Ohio & Somers, Commanded by Lieutenants, and each mounting Three long twelve pounders, with a complement of 35 men each— My Gallant Friend Lieutenant Radcliffe and One Seaman fell in the act of boarding, which, with four wounded is our whole loss. The Enemy had One man killed and Seven wounded among the latter is Lieutenant Conklin commanding the Squadron as well as two of his Officers. The Steady and gallant conduct of the Officers, Seamen and Marines employed on this Service, was such as to have insured me success against a greater force—and has called forth a very handsome General order from His Honor Lieutenant General Drummond— I beg leave particularly to mention Mr. Grindred Mate of the Star—and Mr. Hyde, mate of the Charwell, not only for their gallant conduct in the Attack, but for their skill in bringing the Vessels, into this River, through Shoals, and Rapids, and under a constant and heavy fire—

Two days later, Dobbs volunteered to help recapture Fort Erie. His small detachment of marines and sailors were bolstered by reinforcements seemingly eager for action:

...the forty Seamen [were so anxious] to join use that they actually marched from Fort George to this place in one day, distance of 32 miles requesting the officers not to stop them on the road... General Drummond having determined to attack Fort Erie and having expressed a wish for the assistance of the (navy) instantly offered to lead them on the assault...

Lieutenant Le Couteur of the 104th Foot was not so eager. After an artillery barrage on the 13th did little damage he wrote:

[The fort] was an ugly Customer for fifteen hundred men to attack Six thousand, it was said, placed behind breastworks and ramparts, with guns and a blockhouse bristling in every direction. The fort was of irregular form, with demi-bastions that flanked the ditches. The faces were of earth, but the embrasures seemed to me to be of masonry — at any rate our fire, instead of affecting a breach, seemed to me and others to ran the earth harder.

General Drummond planned a three-pronged attack to take place in the early hours of August 15. Dobbs and his men were assigned to the column commanded by Lieutenant Colonel William Drummond of the 104th Regiment of Foot. The column, composed the flank companies of the 104th Foot and the 41st Foot, a detachment of Royal Artillery, and Dobbs's sailors and marines, was tasked with assaulting the northeast bastion.

Map showing Fort Erie and the British siege lines. The
northeast bastion is on the right side of the star fort.

Lieutenant Colonel's Drummond's column penetrated the abatis surrounding the fort and entered the ditch, then used scaling ladders to climb into the bastion. The attackers then tried to charge through a two metre wide gap between the bastion and a stone barrack block, but were driven back by American fire. A second attempt also failed. At some point Drummond was killed. American attempts to retake the bastion were also futile.

When American artillery began firing at the bastion, the British artillery detachment turned one of the captured guns in the bastion about and returned fire. Seconds after their second shot, a massive explosion destroyed the entire bastion and much of the adjacent barracks block. It is believed that sparks or burning debris from the muzzle flash may have fallen through cracks in the wooden floor of the bastion and ignited the powder magazine below. British casualties were extensive.

Repulsion of the British at Fort Erie
by E. C. Watmough, 1840

Numerous sailors and marines in Dobbs detachment were killed, while Dobbs himself was wounded. Overall the British suffered 905 casualties in the failed assault. Le Couteur wrote of men "roasted, mangled, burned, wounded, black, hideous to view." General Drummond in his report to Governor-in-Chief Sir George Prevost wrote, "Our loss has been severe in killed and wounded; and I am sorry to add that almost all those returned 'missing' may be considered as wounded or killed by the explosion and left in the hands of the enemy."

Dobbs provided more details in his report to Commodore Yeo:

... and were soon in the thick of it. I was knocked down close the the Fort, and never got into it but the brave Officers and Men under my Command most Nobly did, and never left it till an explosion took place which drove all out, and an Order was given to Retreat. Our losses have been very severe: ten Seamen and eleven Marines killed, fifteen Seamen and eighteen Marines Wounded and Missing. I fear a number of the latter were blown up. Lieut. Stevenson, Mr. Harris Master and myself were wounded. Mr. Hinde, Masters Mate, had his thigh broke and was left in the ditch where I fear he must have perished. If there is any inaccuracy in this I trust you will excuse it, as my head aches so intolerably I can scarce hold it up.

In his reply, Commodore Yeo informed Dobbs that he, “does not wish the Seamen and Marines under your command to be employed in any general attack of the army unless under very particular circumstances."

Drummond lifted the siege on September 21 and the British withdrew to the Chippewa River. A few weeks later Lieutenant Le Couteur made this entry in his journal:

... walked to the Heights among the Chestnut woods, and felled a tree to get at the chestnuts which we gathered in plenty at the expense of our fingers, to send Capt. Dobbs, RN, who declared if we did not send Him a bag full, He would not give us passage to Kingston.

Dobbs apparently got his chestnuts as he invited Le Couteur to dinner at his father-in-law's in Kingston on October 28.

On October 20, the American blockade of the mouth of the Niagara River had ended with the arrival of larger ships of Yeo's squadron. This included Yeo's new flagship, the 112-gun first rate HMS St Lawrence. After ferrying reinforcements and supplies ashore, Dobbs returned to Kingston with the Star, Charwell, and Netley. Dobbs made two additional runs to Niagara that fall, finally returning to Kingston on December 9.

The American's abandoned Fort Erie on November 5 and retired back across the Niagara River.

The War of 1812 ended with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent on 24 Dec 1814 but it took several weeks for news of the peace to reach Upper Canada. In late December, Dobbs was given command of the Royal Navy station at Ile aux Noix on the Richelieu River south of Montreal, however, once it became known that the war was over he was transferred to Quebec and became the Royal Navy's agent for transports.

Little is known about Dobbs career following the war. On 4 June 1815, he was made a Companion of the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath, and on 12 Aug 1819 he was promoted to the rank of Captain.

Dobbs died at Milan, Lombardy in 1827. His will, dated, 15 Feb 1827 and proved 8 Aug 1828, shows that at the time of his death he was on half-pay, owned property in Canada, and was "late of Torquay in the County of Devon."

Mary Cartwright likely returned to Kingston after Alexander's death where she died on 4 Jan 1839. Alexander and Mary had no children.

Sources:

Armstrong, Benjamin. "Daring Moves on the Niagara. Naval History Magazine, Volume 27, Number 5 (September 2013).

Cruickshank, Ernest. The Siege of Fort Erie. Welland, Ontario: Lundy's Lane Historical Society, 1905 http://images.ourontario.ca/Partners/BUA/BUA0027064871T.PDF

Graves, Donald E. "William Drummond and the Battle of Fort Erie," Canadian Military History, Vol. 1., Iss. I, Article 4. https://scholars.wlu.ca/cmh/vol1/iss1/4/

Le Couteur, John (1994). Merry Hearts Make Light Days: The War of 1812 Journal of Lieutenant John Le Couteur, 104th Foot. Donald E. Graves, Editor. Ottawa: Carleton University Press

Malcolmson, Robert. Lords of the Lake: The Naval War on Lake Ontario. Toronto: Robin Brass Studio, 1998.

Malcolmson, Robert. "Dobbs and the Royal Navy at Niagara." Fortress Niagara. Issue 1 (June 2000)

Marshall, John. "Alexander Dobbs, Esq." Royal Naval Biography, Vol. 1. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1823.
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Royal_Naval_Biography/Dobbs,_Alexander

Crawford, Michael J. (Ed.). The Naval War of 1812: A Documentary History, Vol. 3. Washington: Naval Historical Center. 2002. p. 588-9.

Williamson, Robert. "The Burlington Races Revisited: An Analysis of an 1813 Naval Battle for Supremacy on Lake Ontario." Canadian Military History, Vol. 8, Issue 4. https://scholars.wlu.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1271&context=cmh

Rebel and Ranger: James Secord (1732-1784)

East Branch of Susquehanna River near Wyalusing in
Pennsylvania. James Secord settled on the
Susquehanna a few years before the Revolutionary War.

The story of Laura Secord (née Ingersol) has been told, embellished, dismissed, corrected, and retold numerous times. Less well known is the story of some other members of the Secord family, including Laura's father-in-law, James Secord.

James (Jacques) Secord was born on 24 Apr 1732 in New Rochelle, Westchester, New York, the son of Daniel Secord (1698-1766) and Catharine Mabee (1703-1761). He was baptized at the Église Françoise at New Rochelle on 28 May 1732. James married Madelaine Badeau, likely the daughter of Jean Badeau and Madelaine Parcot, about 1754. Their first child, Solomon, was born on 9 Mar 1755. Stephen (Etienne) was born two years later followed by David in 1759, Madelaine in 1764, Esther in 1766, Mary in 1770, and James in 1773.

Some family historians have also included a child named John, born in 1762, however, this is not supported by primary sources. While the New Rochelle baptisms of Solomon, Steven, David and Madelaine are found in the register of the Église Françoise À La Nouvelle York, there is no baptism record for John. He does not appear on the pay rolls of Butler's Rangers or the Indian Department, nor is he listed in the 1783 Niagara Return.

James and Madelaine may have lived in New Rochelle for a time after their marriage but tax records show that by 1762 they were leasing a farm in the Southern Precinct of Dutchess County (now Putnam County).

The Philipse Patent was granted to Adolphus
Philipse in 1697 and was held by three of his
descendants in the 1760s.

On 20 Jun 1766, however, a warrant for issued for the arrest of James. In the fall of 1765, James, a tenant farmer in the Philipse Patent, had been recruited by William Prendergast (1727-1811) to participate in an armed rebellion against their absentee landlords.

At issue were the excessive rents, the threat of evictions, and debt imprisonment. Prendergast and his followers refused to pay their rents. Tenants who had been evicted were restored to their farms, and anyone who had been imprisioned for rent debt was broken out of jail.

On 1 May 1766, hundreds of Prendergast's followers marched on New York City. Prendergast halted his "army" at the Harlem River and sent a delegation to meet with Governor Sir Henry Moore. Moore listened to their grievances and assured them that he would not interfere in their dispute. Prendergast's army returned to Dutchess Country and disbanded, however, the landowners soon pressured the Governor into sending British grenadiers from the 28th Regiment of Foot to restore order. Several skirmishes followed in which several soldiers and rebels were killed. Prendergast evaded capture when his supporters made a stand at the Oblong Friends Meeting House, however, he later surrendered and was taken to New York City.

Oblong Friends Meeting House

At his trial in early August, Predergast was found guilty of high treason and was sentenced to be executed: “The prisoner shall be led back to the place whence he came, and from thence shall be drawn on a hurdle to the place for execution, and then shall be hanged by the neck, and then shall be cut down alive, and his entrails and privy members shall be cut from his body, and shall be burned in his sight, and his head shall be cut off, and his body shall be divided in four parts, and shall be disposed of at the King’s pleasure.”

Fortunately, Predergast's wife, Mehetibal, was able to obtain a stay of execution from Governor Moore, and several months later a royal pardon from King George III.

It is not known if James Secord was ever arrested or imprisoned. Instead, he may have fled Dutchess County for Cortlandt Manor in Westchester.

Most researchers list Somers, Westchester as the birth place for James and Madelaine's three youngest children. Although the Town of Somers was not established until 1808, the area was part of the 86,000 acre patent granted to Stephanus van Cortlandt in 1697.

In 1773, James and his brother Peter appear on a tax assessment list for Walpack, Sussex, New Jersey. Walpack lies on the Delaware River, which forms the boundary between Pennsylvania and New Jersey.   Within a year, however, James and Peter had likely moved west to the Susquehanna River, in an area that was claimed by both Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

In his war losses claim, Solomon Secord wrote:

That your Memorialist’s Father at the beginning of the late unhappy disturbances in America was settled on Susquhannah River in Northumberland County in the Province of Pennsa where he was in possession of a good Farm with Buildings thereon erected, Live Stock, Household Furniture, Farming utensils &c the whole valued at £227 New York Currency.

Solomon testified that his late father had settled about three years before the war, and had cleared between 20 and 30 acres. Losses included a house and barn, two head of cattle and five horses.

James is thought to have settled near Mehoopany, several kilometres upriver from Tunkhannock where his brother John had settled. Also in the area were his brother Peter and his sister Mary, wife of Joshua Beebe (my ggggg-grandparents).

In October 1775 the 24th Regiment, Connecticut Militia was established, and James was appointed captain of the Ninth Company. The following June he was replaced because he was "suspected and accused of Tory proclivities."

Because James "would not side with the rebels," he left his farm on the Susquehanna for Fort Niagara in the spring of 1777.  With him were his sons Solomon, Steven, and David. Madelaine and the younger children remained behind. James and his sons were part of a group that became rangers in the Indian Department under Deputy Superintendent John Butler. This group included Peter Secord and his son Silas, John Secord and his son John, Joshua Beebe and his son Adin, Jacob Bowman and his son Adam, and Abraham Wartman and his son Adam.

On 31 Mar 1777, John Butler wrote to Sir Guy Carleton, Governor of the Province of Quebec:

A number of people daily coming in from the Mohawk River and many of the first inhabitants who will be greatly distressed unless some way relieved. I therefore make bold to ask your permission and authority to form these, with numbers more I can draw from that country into a Ranger's Battalion, which I think I can complete in three months, having received letters from seventy of the inhabitants of the Susquehanna by one Depue, expressing a desire of entering into His Majesty's service as Rangers. I have, by consent of Captain Lernoult, wrote them to come on and do expect them here in the space of twenty days; their use as scouts with Indians to an army would be presumptuous in me to point out.

John Butler noted the arrival of a number of Susquehanna loyalists in a letter to Carleton on 8 Apr 1777:

Since my letter to Your Excellency of the 31st ulto, several people have arrived from the Susquehanna, who inform me of more being on their way and more to follow them in a few days.

In a letter from Butler to Carleton dated 16 Jun 1777, James is shown as being paid 8 shillings per diem while his sons and the others received 4 shillings. In his response Carleton wrote:

I cannot, however, but observe that the pay of the men of the company of Rangers is very high and I wish you had given me your reason for proposing it at that high rate; but I take it for granted that it is only to continue at that rate during the expedition.

The expedition that Carleton refers to was the St. Leger Expedition, part of the 1777 Saratoga Campaign. Butler brought his rangers to Oswego to rendevous with Brigadier General Barry St. Leger. St. Leger's expedition left Oswego on July 26 and travelled overland to Fort Stanwix which was besieged beginning on 2 Aug 1777. On August 6, James and the other rangers were part of the ambush of American reinforcements known as the Battle of Oriskany. Ernest Cruickshank is his history of Butler's Rangers states that 18-year-old David was wounded during this battle.

St. Leger lifted the Seige of Fort Stanwix on August 22 after receiving misleading intelligence that an American relief column commanded was approaching.  A few days later St. Leger gave leave to the Susquehanna rangers "to go home for their families and to bring off some cattle." Several secondary sources record that James was placed in charge.

In early January, however, many of the Susquehanna rangers were captured by a patriot force commanded by Nathan Dennison. 18 were sent to prison in Connecticut. Among their numbers were Philip Buck, Jacob Bowman, and his son Adam Bowman.  James and eleven others were released for lack of evidence.

Butler reported on their capture in a letter to Captain Francis Le Maistre, Adjutant General dated 28 Jan 1778.

By accounts from the Susquehanna River, I am well informed of the rebels having taken prisoners thirty of the Rangers who went from Oneida Lake by leave of Colonel St Leger. They were to have returned to this place with as many beef cattle as they could drive off. The rebels, as is supposed, got notice of their design and with a party of 200 men surprised and took them with three Indians.

In September 1777, Butler had finally received permission to form a Loyalist regiment. Solomon, Steven, and David enrolled in Butler's Rangers, however, James remained an employee of the Indian Department. In his Upper Canada Land Petition dated 12 Jan 1796, James's youngest son wrote: "That your Petitioner’s Father brought in to this province about forty men who all joined Col Butler's late Corps of Rangers and for which he was promised a Company in said Corps but afterwards withheld from him." Pay records show that James held the rank of Lieutenant in the Indian Department and served until at least April 1779.

In their 1795 Upper Canada Land Petition, David and James Secord wrote that their father:

... brought to this Post [Fort Niagara] forty six Loyal subjects all which Joined his Majestys Standard and in the year following he also brought to this Post his family consisting of a wife seven children three of which Joined Coll Butlers Rangrs and served during the war—your Petitioners father likewise served as a Lieut in the Six Nation Indian Department and having received five Hundred Acres and hopes your Excellency will assign your Petitioners such further quantity of Land as they may be entitled to."

Given his status as a Lieutenant in the Indian Department, James likely spoke several indigenous languages including Mohawk and Seneca, and may have also been fluent in French. At various times he would have served as a liasion with the Haudenosaunee, as a recruiter for the Rangers, or as a scout.

Butler's Rangers Belt Plate,
Niagara-on-the-Lake Museum

While it is not known if James was present at the Battle of Wyoming in July 1778, his three sons saw action. In the early years of the American Revolution, the Wyoming Valley was a hotbed of Patriot support and a leading producer of grain. Butler decided to attack the valley with a joint force of Rangers and Seneca.

Butler's combined force descended the Susquehanna in canoes, and arrived at the head of the Wyoming Valley on July 1. After capturing Fort Wintermoot and Fort Jenkins, Butler ambushed a force of about 300 Patriot militia who had left the security of Forty Fort in the belief that Butler was withdrawing. The inexperienced militia panicked and ran, and were slaughtered by the Seneca.

In his report to Fort Niagara's commanding officer, Lt. Col. Mason Boulton, Butler wrote:

When they were within 200 yards of us they began firing. We still continued upon the ground without returning their fire till they had fired three volleys. By this time they had advanced within 100 yards of us, and being quite near enough, Saingerachta ordered his Indians, who were upon the right, to begin the attack upon our part, which was immediately well seconded by the Rangers on the left. Our fire was so close and well directed that the affair was soon over, not lasting above half an hour from the time they gave us the first fire till their flight. In the action were taken 227 scalps and only five prisoners. The Indians were so exasperated with their loss last year near Fort Stanwix that it was with the greatest difficulty I could save the lives of these few.

Later in the report Butler added:

But what gives me the greatest satisfaction is that I can, with great truth, assure you that in the destruction of this settlement not a single person has been hurt of the inhabitants but such as were in arms. To those, indeed, the Indians gave no quarter.

A lurid and misleading account of the "Wyoming Massacre" was published in the Connecticut Courant on July 28, 1778, and was widely reprinted in other American newspapers. The account claimed that some prisoners were thrown onto a fire and held down with pitchforks, that women and children were burned alive within their homes, and that several instances of fratricide and familicide occured. Other accounts erroneously claimed that the Mohawk war leader Thayendanegea (Joseph Brant) led the indigenous warriors, and that a Seneca woman known as Queen Esther executed at least fourteen captive American soldiers at Bloody Rock.

Ensign Downey's Escape, Battle of Wyoming by Don Troiani

Perhaps the most reliable account of the Battle of Wyoming appears in the journal of Richard Cartwright (1759-1815). Cartwright was a civilian who served as Butler's secretary from 1778 to May 1780. He later married Madelaine Secord, daughter of James and Madeline.

    ... on the 1st of July [they] entered the settlement, the party consisting in the whole of 464 Indians and 110 Rangers. That day and the next, two small forts, in which were a number of women and children and a few men, surrendered on condition of having their lives spared and being allowed to retire into the country.
         The Indians at first, seeing the inhabitants shut up in forts, and in some measure secured from their fury, thought of nothing but of scattering through the settlement to vent it upon the cattle and buildings, and at the same time to collect as much plunder as they could. Major Butler, however, by his earnest entreaty, prevailed upon them to keep in a body till he tried what effect a flag of truce would have, and finding it attended with such unexpected success in the two first instances, they were desirous of getting possession of all the rest of the forts by the same method, and a flag was accordingly sent to the principal fort on the 3rd, but was insulted, and soon after the greatest part of that garrison, and some small ones below it, in all about 450 men, commanded by a Colonel Butler, came out to attack them, on which a very warm engagement ensued, and lasted for about fifteen minutes, when the rebels retreated with precipitation, and were hotly pursued by the Indians, who took 226 scalps and three prisoners, and several were besides drowned in attempting to pass the river.
    Major Butler's loss was only seven wounded, two of whom died of their wounds. This victory made them entire masters of all the settlement, as it occasioned such a panic that all the forts were either abandoned or surrendered, on the same conditions as the first, before the 7th Instant. Most of the houses were burnt except such as belonged to people under the name of Loyalists; a very large number of cattle were driven off; and effects to a great amount were brought away in plunder by the Indians.
    All this was said to be done without any acts of cruelty being committed by the savages; for the deliberate murder of prisoners after they are brought into their camp is not, it seems, reckoned among acts of cruelty by these barbarous wretches.

The Wyoming expedition also provided the opportunity for Loyalist families still living on the Susquehanna to be safely escorted to Fort Niagara. In his journal, Richard McGinnis wrote of encountering families "on their way to Niagara" at Tioga. In her war losses claim Mary Beebe (nee Secord), wife of Joshua Beebe and sister of James Secord, stated that "corn, turnups [sic], potatoes and wheat” were left in the field, suggesting a late spring departure. Mary and Joshua's youngest child was born at Tioga in late July.

Madelaine Secord, however, was no longer on the Susquehanna. In the early spring of 1778, Madelaine, Elizabeth Bowman, and Anna Buck had brought their families to Canojahorie, Elizabeth's former home in the Mohawk Valley area.  A few months later they were escorted to Fort Niagara, arriving in early November.

Unlike many families who were sent to refugee camps in lower Quebec, Madelaine and her children remained at Niagara for the remainder of the war. In October 1778, James's brothers, John and Peter, were discharged from Butler's Rangers on 7 Oct 1778 due to their age. James, however, remained with the Indian Department.

George Romney, Thayendanegea,
National Galley of Canada, 1776

While there is no evidence that James was present at the Cherry Valley Massacre, as experienced rangers, Solomon, Stephen, and David would have certainly have been. In November 1778, Captain Walter Butler, son of John Butler, led a combined force of Seneca, Rangers and regulars from the 8th Regiment of Foot against the Mohawk Valley settlement of Cherry Valley. With Bulter was Thayendanegea and a score of Mohawk warriors. While the Rangers and regulars attacked the fort, the Seneca attacked homes in the village where American officers were billeted.

Unlike the "Wyoming Massacre," where only militiamen had been killed, 30 non-combatants, mostly women and children, were slaughtered by the Seneca, despite the efforts of Thayendanegea to curtail the violence. 15 soldiers of the 7th Massachusetts Regiment were also killed including their commanding officer.

Arriving soon after the massacre, one witness wrote:

I was never before a spectator of such a scene of distress and horror. The first object that presented was a woman lying with her four children, two on each side of her, all scalped; the next was the wife of the Reverend Mister Dunlop, likewise scalped, stripped quite naked, and much of her flesh devoured by the Indian dogs. But it would be tedious to mention all the shocking spectacles that were to be seen.

An additional 70 non-combatants were taken prisoner, however, Thayendanegea secured the release of many of them a few days later. About 30 women and children remained captives of the Seneca along with four officers and 12 enlisted men from the 7th Massachusetts. Lt. Col. William Stacey, second-in command of the 7th Massachusetts was turned over to the British and remained a prisoner-of-war until 1782.

John Butler (1728-1796). Copied from
the original by Henry Oakley.
Niagara on the Lake Museum, 1834

In February 1779, John Butler reported that, "Mr. Secord is sent to Chemung for the purpose of keeping a constant watch upon the rebels towards Wyoming, from since I daily expect intellingence as parties have been out that way for some time." Chemung was a Lenape village on the Chemung River several kilometres upriver from Tioga Point where the Chemung merged with the Susquehanna. James was still at Chemung in April but does not appear to have been in the area when the Sullivan Expedition burned the village in early August. It is not known whether James was present at the Battle of Newtown on August 29, 1779. Captain Walter Butler's company, however, was at Newtown which suggests that Solomon, Stephen and David once again saw action.

James retired from the Indian Department sometime after April 1779. In the summer of 1780, James, his brothers Peter and John, and his nephew John were part of the first group to start farming on the west side of the Niagara River. James and Peter began clearing land along Four Mile Creek several kilometres inland from Lake Ontario, while John and his son John settled closer to the mouth of the Niagara River.

By August 1782, James had cleared 20 acres and had 11 sheep, three horses, three cows, and three hogs. A year later an additional 20 acres had been cleared.

Recognizing the need for a sawmill and gristmill, James and Peter requested government assistance to transport millstones and iron works from lower Quebec. Governor Haldimand, however, insisted that the mills, like the farms on the west side on the Niagara, would belong to the Crown. Haldimand, however, was willing to pay for construction and materials. In his letter to John Butler dated 9 Jul 1782, Adjutant General Robert Matthews wrote:

With respect to the mills proposed to be built by the Secords, His Excellency will not permit any thing of the kind as private property. It must be undertaken entirely upon the same footing as the farms. Some estimate of the expense must be sent down by the most intelligent of these men. The General will provide and send up the materials; they will be paid for building the mills and allowed a reasonable profit for working them. The sooner Secord is sent down the better and he should be furnished with remarks in writing respecting the situation of the intended mills, the materials wanted, what parts of them can be procured above, &c.

After many delays the mills began operating in the fall of 1783. The grist mill escaped destruction during the War of 1812, and was in operation until 1910. About 1990 the building was converted into a residence and received heritage designation in 2004.

Secord grist mill c. 1920

Solomon, Steven, and David Secord remained with Butler's Rangers until the end of the war. Steven was promoted to Sergeant and appears in Capt. Lewis Geneway's company on a return dated 30 Nov 1783. David appears with his father on the list of farmers "settled at this Post" dated 1 Dec 1783. Solomon after many delays was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant before the regiment was disbanded in June 1784.

According to the claim for losses submitted by Solomon Secord, James died in summer of 1784. Madelaine appears as "Widow Secord" on the 20 Jul 1784 Niagara Return. Some family historians record her death as having occured on 21 Sep 1796, however, evidence for this is lacking.

James never met his famous daughter-in-law but his story, while not heroic, illustrates the hardships suffered by those who supported the Crown during the American Revolution.

Sources:

Connecticut Courant and the Weekly Intelligencer, 28 Jul 1778, p. 3.

Crowder, Norman. Early Ontario Settlers: A Source Book. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1993.

Francavilla, Lisa A., "The Wyoming Valley Battle and 'Massacre': Images of a Constructed American History" (2002). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539626377. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-00ct-xe13

Harvey, Oscar Jewell. A History of Wilkes-Barré, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania: From Its First Beginnings to the Present Time, Including Chapters of Newly-discovered Early Wyoming Valley History, Together with Many Biographical Sketches and Much Genealogical Material. Wilkes-Barre: Raeder Press, 1909

Jones, J. Kelsey. Loyalist Plantations on the Susquehanna. Self-published, 2009. https://docplayer.net/100900251-Loyalist-plantations-on-the-susquehanna-j-kelsey-jones-updated-2009.html

Library and Archives Canada. Land Petitions of Upper Canada, 1763-1865

Library and Archives Canada. Haldimand Papers (MG21, Add. MSS 21765, Volumes B105, B166, B167, B168)

Miner, Charles. History of Wyoming: In a Series of Letters, From Charles Miner, to His Son William Penn Miner. Philadelphia: J. Crissy, 1845.

Moulton, R. Kirk. "Early Sicard-Secor Famiies of New York: Origins of United Empire Loyalist William Secord." New York Genealogical Bulletin, Vol. 150, No. 4 (October 2019) p. 302-316.

Nester, William R. The Frontier War of American Independence. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books, 2004.

Reilly, Bob. "The Heroine of Quaker Hill," The Pawling Record, 13 Jul 2018. https://www.pawlingrecord.org/single-post/2018/07/13/The-Heroine-of-Quaker-Hill

Smy, William. An Annotated Nominal Roll of Butler's Rangers 1777-1784. Welland, Ontario: Friends of the Loyalist Collection at Brock University, 2004.

Smy, William A., editor. The Butler Papers: Documents and Papers Relating to Colonel John Butler and His Corps of Rangers. Brock University Library Archives & Special Collections, 1994. https://dr.library.brocku.ca/handle/10464/9242

Stone, William L. The Poetry And History of Wyoming: Containing Campbell's Gertrude, And the History of Wyoming, From Its Discovery to the Beginning of the Present Century. Fourth edition, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.: C. E. Butler, 1869.

The National Archives of the UK. American Loyalist Claims, 1776–1835 (AO 12–13).

Watt, Gavin. Fire & Desolation: The Revolutionary War's 1778 Campaign as Waged from Quebec and Niagara Against the American Frontier. Toronto: Dundurn, 2017.

Watt, Gavin K. and James F. Morrison. The British Campaign of 1777, Volume One, The St. Leger Expedition: The Forces of the Crown and Congress. Second edition, Milton, Ontario: Global Heritage Press, 2010.

Wittmeyer, Alfred Victor and Edward F. De Lancey. Registers of the Births, Marriages, And Deaths, of the "Église Françoise À La Nouvelle York,": From 1688 to 1804. New York: Huguenot Society of America, 1885.