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26 "Pushon. heYorkVolunteers!"Ttre Battle of Queeflston Heights13 October 1812

B! Da.oid Bickle!When begd wargamingeriously,ack n 1973,my fi6r :my was.of course,a British Napoleonicone: wil]) fi8uGs by Peter Gilder'mdDfactured ten by Hinchliffe. In due coursetey were solded laterreplaced y a MinifiSs verion: which in tum were sold ro financenewprojeds. I never or one momenr houghr would everget back1o ieNapoleonicperiod.The amies were oo arge br my modeslwdgdesserup andrhe battles oo lege in scoPeo. my table to accommodatethem: nd hisdespiteoraysnto 15mnscalewith MinifigsRusians.Prussians d Frencholer lhe YedslIt is strdge, then. o reflecl that whenWdgmes Foundryheld itsopeningweekendsale n ic new home n the FoundryFortres in StMarks Steet; Noltinghm I had just sold eother annv ftis time aFrencbCrimem force b Dave Imie, dd found myself with cash !ospare o. dother new ventE. With mdy other fellow wdgaDers IwmderedDp dd down he row .fter row of shelves ookingal ltrsl thisperiodand ten that period. t was all too much rcally. bur like most ofyou t@. I guess, he noney jusr had to be spentwhen therewere sommy major bargainso be had!Thus t was,while laking aeell emedcotre brca.k nd @king at Phil\ Srowingbaskerof Late Romansthatmy eye was caughtby a small booklet by StuonAsquith entided-Arvaryane\ Guideto the 1812-1815Wat Wth Anetica, ^ sniPar ontv! l !tn a jiffy I was back trawling the shelves ike a ne inspired:as Iknew Foundryhad madequitea large aDge or tbe 1812 1813periodofthe wd. Soon te money hademed was spenton two snall forces:a United States force of Genels. Regulars,Miutia, volunl@6-Riflemen and Anillery, ed, a Bndsh _ Canadianorce of Gene.als,Regulas.Fetrcibles,Anillery dd Militia. A major aGactionwas h Idid nor really need any cavalry for eifter side unlels I weted a fewDragoonsor MounledRiflemeD!Now I as begin his anicle on lhe laslday of Jouary 2003 I can repori that the lasrAmericd unit, tie 9ihUnited StabsInfdtf. h6 finally beencomplredatrd hale onlv the10th Royrl VeieraDRegrnem o Paht andfte forces boughtso ongagowill have all beenparnred.Now I have he fi8ures andhave beenreadingwidely about hewar for two and ah.lf yeds I thought wouldwrite a shonseriesof {ticles on sone of theengagements d battlesfor any feltow gamerswho m itrterestedor might like lo tlf a newperiod. so. herc we are,wift the tust etron: the action atQueenston nrheNiage Riveron 13Oclober 8 12.

BACKGROIJN'D TO TIIE BATTLE OFQIJEENSTONIIEIGHTSOn 18 J ne l8l2 the United Srates eclaredwd on GreatBri(ain citingimpressments,nterferencewift ftee Ende,dd B.itish plotling in theold Nonhwesl.No mentionwas madeof fte conquelt or

"liberation"of canada.whicb ThomasJeffe6onhad descibed as .. a merc matterof mNhing..."; for PresidentMadisons clear intent was to shift theblame or wd onto BriBir. For theirpait lhe Brilish hadhoPed o avoidwa even r he a.rminure, urqereunde(idedponwhar oncesion'.if any, tey could offer fte Americus. In ihe end.neitherside ett tbevcould atrord o tose facemd both drifted into a wal which they could

ill atrord: Britain becausets focus war on defeatingNapoleon andAmericabecause f its genemlslateof military umadines.The Americansconsidered te Prcvinceof UPperCanada o be thethe mosl wlnerable of Brirdn\ Posessions.being a nere chain orsrrungout setdemenls nable o Prctect hemselves nddistaced lioma oore populousenemyby a ndow strip of sater A forceof 20.000men.of whom only one hird needbe rgulmswas all ftat wd thougbtnecessaryo reduceBnhitr\ presence Canadao nere history Thisoptimism wd panly bsed on a populalion discrepmcvbetween helwo countrres.The UniBd Statet population numberedsome 7.5miuion. while the Provinceof UpPerCdada washome ro onlv some80,000 ouh.Of these, dy wefeAnericd setdenor children fAmericanLoyalists, who had nigEted north after the RevolutiontryWd. From the British perspective. te presence f so manv enemvalienJ in Upper Canadadd fte numerousdescenddts of FrenchsettleB n LowerCmadaposeda seriousposibility of civil urest if notlredonable acdons.Added !o lhis was the uncertaindisposidonof theNadveAmericansn the comingstrugglTo add to $ese problemsfor the Bntish Governor in Chiel SirGeorgePrevos! mdlis Lieutenmi Covemor n UPprCanadaMajorGeneral Sir lsaacBrock. the total numberof British Regulm in ftekovinceJ gsisons numberedonly some7,000 rnen ln fact. onlv1.600 cgulds guisoned UpperCanadawhen hosdlides egan n1812.For theAmericansan:my with aPaPer trengft of over 35'000had n fact only 13,000 oldiesenlistedn 1812 Blt despilehis. heUnited Stntescledly possesed a nunerical advamage hal couldconceivablybe brought o bee h Upper Canadaond b.ing abod adecisiveviclory. With Ois in mitrd. Anerico straEgvplmed a threor fourpronged dsault across he Detroil, Niagam, and St Lawrencerive6 culminadng n the caplm of Montrcal and the liberarion of

Fortunately or kevosl and Brek, rh Aderice plan wa onry putinto action n an uncoordinateday. hanperedas hey werebv politicalgenerals, omer Revolutionarywar veterans, nda inadequare taffsystem.Their first thrusr, ed by BrigadierGeneralHnl towardsDelroitwa! soundlybeatenwhen Hull and his 2.200 nen togetherwith alltheir suppliesandequipnent,sutrenderedo Brockdd his 1.300 tongforce of RegulaJs,Militia and Nadve Americds on 16 Auguslfollowing a numberof almos!bloodles reverses ngineered v Britishdaring.Following ftis reve6e Brock, much encouagedbv elenls. wasable to hm his atiention to fte secondAnencm tbrust inlo UpPerCeada. A force of several housand,lEdeup of alnost 1'700Reguldsslplorred by Volunteendd Militia wasgaiheringalongthe NiaganRiver for a second hnsr aiming to split Upper Cdada in two eddrmor.lise he octl populalionHowever.n rhe rdge {a, ofevenhin ftis wd. this force suffered t@: this time from poor trai ng'inadequate quipmertsand ackof adequaE ryPlies More mPortantlvir sutrered iom a divided ade6hiPmade nevitabteby theprcsence frwo ireconcilable commnnders;Major General StephenVanRenselaer of the New York Militia md Bngadier GeneralAlexdder'Apocalypse'Smythof the Reguld Anny. When tho expecled hrstcde near Queenston, ne two feuding commders werc not co-operatingwith each other, eaditrg o Va Renselaerbeing unable opeEuade his Mililia 1o crcss into Cdada and Smlth feeling hisRegulm were beinShdded u uneqDalask.Tne usrpldned crcsing on ll October8l2 eded ignoniniouslvwhen Vm Rensseler orderedhis comand back itrto camp havingbensoaked n n heavy downpou of Eh while milling abonton theshorefing to boaJdboatswith no ods, haling noPlu of enbdkation.dd mr e\en hrvinSban dnlled n Lhe e.esarymooeDvrc\ o! OrimpendingactionlNevertheless, rcck eas in a hiSh stateor Mietv aifte obvious ntentof lhe Anencd forcsandhis inabilitv to defendallpolentialcrossjngpoints. gnoredby Smythmd Proddednlo aclion byWashinSton. an Rensselaerrdereda wcondcrossing tom his bde atLewistown lowardsQueenslonon the f{ shore of the Niagam Rive.This tookplace n the earlyhom of 13Oclober 8 12,while Brockwi6the bulk of his force was severalmiles awav n Fori George wherehehad anticipaled he major hnsl from thedirection of Fod Niaga$.

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TIIE BATTLEOFQTJEENSTONIEIGHTSVan Rensselaerlmed a dual ftdsr acoss the river He dd his forcewould asault Queenstonwhile Soyth dd his Regula6 would attackFon CeorgeseveDmiles awayi Smythdeclined o take his ordrs rcDa mere Militia General, so fte Fon Gorgepan of the atrack wasdropped from the pld. Van Renslelaer still had morc men at h$disposal or tle allack he proposed o nake eross rhe river fromtf,wisiown lowardsQueenstonhan werc likely to be gdisoning rheplace or tlte British and some80 boatshe coDldcajl upon or fteir safelrmsporiation. He chose to iake only abour 600, dd h6lf of rhemMilili4 while he only had hirteen of the boatsadied for their lask. Hedid. howeler bring all of his alillery to bed 1ocover rhecrossingwithfteii fire. As ftey nade the crcsing, tbEe of the boats oundrhesnongcMenr r@ muchand they werc swept downstrem frcm then hndingSround.The renaining ten boarsmdaged 1o hd their noops ar thespotvan Renselaer had chosen,usl aboveQueenston.A pall of B@k s coIm&d wasatFon Erie. anorherat Fort ceorge.while a1Qleenston. a village of no nore the a hundred homesapproximatelyhalfway berweenNiagaraFalls and Fort c@rge. he hadpiaced100 men ofthe 49rh Foor suppodedby two Spdrgunsud anl8pdr gun. The larEr was placed in eanhworksconsFlcted on thenodhem heighlsoverlooking he vijlaSe.Abour a mile ro rhe southhehadplaced *o 24pd. gunsat Vroonm's Poinr overlookingthe rive.Brcck, aq we have sen, was sveral niles away wirh rhe bulk of hisforce in Fon George.woken fsm a fidul slmber by the noise ofeunfirehe huniedly rcse,drcsed in his unifom dd nountedhk ho6ero ride lowdds the soundof theguns.Suchwas his halr rharhe setoffwilhoDt waiting for his Aide de camp LieulenanrColonel JobnMacDonell,giving huried orde6 for reinforcementso be boughtup as

In the firsi boats o lod we.efte l3d Unied States nfdtry dd thel6th New York Militia ledby Var Rensselaer\staff office. ed nephewColonel SolomonVd RensselaerLanding uder tue the Americanssoon ound hemselves inneddom next to the shoreby the Brirish firefrcm the Heights.To nale natteF wo6q their colmdder Solomonvan Rensselaer.was woDndedsii rimes and unable to give rhenecessary qdeBhip. FonDnately or Oeir position ed that of rhetroops ollowing them n the secondwavea CaplainJohn Wool of thel3th InfaDtry @k chdee of fte men and. hanls to local knowledSe fone of his men.LieuGndr JohnGansevoort,Dadeuseof e unguardedfishmmt patb adingup tbe Heightsand wasable o leada company

of the 13lh nfelry up to aposirion rom whichftey could oqdlan* theBritish position-This twistinS, ndow pathhad mde such an unlikelyrouteup fte Heights harBr@k hadnot evenconsidered aling aguardplaced here o watch ove. such a movelMeanwhile. BMk had entered Quensron afler a ftandc nde.Pausingonly to o.der a compmy of the 49th to cone down jiom theHeighB nto the village lo sDppon he local Militia herode up alotre othe arthworks o view the siluation for hinsell tn lhe dawn s fainllight he could make out groups ofAnericans enbeking into small boatson the fd shore and see the fainlslashesmade n the river by the shotfton the guns on the Heighrsand ntVroome\ Point. Reaching te summit

with his compmy, Wool appearedunexpectedly behind rbe Britishposition. ausing nly o.llow hisnento fom into line above the Bririshposition. he chdged! Ever in theirsurprisedstate, Brockt gunneB wereable ro spike fte l8pdr gun beforefleeing down the hill towardsQueenslon,B.ock amongst themleading isho6e.ReachinghevillageBrock ordered about 200 men of the49th md the York VolDners nto lineud then prcmptly led then in penontowtrds the Heights ton whichhe hadjust so gnominiorsly fled for his lifelIn the grey dawn light Brocksscarlet coat trinmed with Sold ddcockd hat befitting his rank andsituation made m all too rempringtdget. As he waved his sword above

KEEPWARGAMINGEIW PaulandTeresa aileyre fts Kp, ! MalharftBaracts,,Effi LddonFoad, s!ts5,wlishil!,sl{102En,UKf;[gffi Tde Far 013/)24s58EiqaE 6-mal[ pwrge4alel.cnn

cAv Comb.r Areuh Vehlcle R@r,s Me

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28his head o encourage is Inen fos&d he was shot in the wrisr Hestumbled.butgallmtly rcse o his feel to continue he attack,only to beshot again n the chest. t is likely thal he died instandy,although alegends@n grew dound his actionto suSgest e had wift his dyinebrenth called oui lh words." Push on, lbe York VolDntees! toencouragete Militia in their attack,savering s they were at he sightof their Generah death. n fact. aftera shortpause, hey uded backud went down lhe hill where hey verc rallied by MacDonelldd ledback nto acdon,advdcinS once more up fte hill aSainstWool\ men.Suchwd their attack hat fte gDnswer ecaptured-MacDonell did notlive ro see heir triumph, falling morlally wounded n lhe chdS.Wool by rcw bad receiled reinforcments nd dereminedto attackthe British position a second ime. However,he *d wounded(shot$rcugh both buttockt ed could not lead lhe anack 'n Person,colMdd pasing to the newly eived Lieutendl Colonel winfieldScott.Scollquickly reofganisedhe roopson the HeiShrs d sent henback down on the British position n a cbdge that drove te defende6not only from the eanhworls and off the Heights themselves nl alsoback into Queenslontselt From the ftey sithdrew to Vroomm'sPoint o awair urther rcinforcementq. y this time van Renselaerbadabout 600 lrcops on the Canadid side of the riler bu found onreuming to the trwistown Heigbtson the Americd shore hat theMilida were nvoking their nghr not to wr outside he Urited Slatesandrefusing o eDbark for the Cdadid bank. Perhapsheir positionwas driven les by constituiional considerationsdd morc by thealminS sightof casualtie! eingbrcught ack n fie reDmingboatslVd Renselaerwas o.ced o warch mpotentlyfrcm his positiononthe Lewistown Heights as nore British troops cme uP from thedirecdonof Fon Georgeunder he comand of Major GeneralRogerSheatreof the Upper Canadnslatr, supported by oler a hundredMohawkwdio6 nnderJohn Brandt.CaptainJacoband te half breedCa ain John Nortor As the aftemoon wore on bward! 4.00 p.m.Sheaffe led the Mohawks o attack6e American eft lnd reinforcingthe Heigh$ becamea even greater pnoriry for Van RensselaerNothing howeverwoDld penuade he Militia rcmainingon fteAmerican shore and confront lhe Mohawks vdRensselaerqarch d Sheatret British trcops stomed the smalle.American orce on fte Heighls and bege lo desroy themPiecene.lThe situation ecme desperales heMohawkwdio6 killedmdyAmericans ying to surender: while oftes rook fteir chanceEling toclimb down the cliffs or junping fion the HeiShls inlo the riverAlthough wounded, Sco[ showedgreat couragedd leadeship infinding a Brilish ofiicer to whon the Americansuftndered, saving helivesof manyofhis nen s well ashis own. n al]lhe Americansostabout90 rnenkilled. wilh a further 150wounded, bile 958 weecaptured ioe. on the Heightsor along he shoreline.The British had ntolal 19killedmd 85 wounded.For fte Americds the defeatcominEor the heelsof Hull\ debaclein Detroil wrs a bilterpill to swallow.sweelened nly by theemergenceof two hercs in Wool od Scott. Fo. the British lhe vicrory wasovenhadowedby the deathof B.ock. whosedding and eaderehip addonemuch to inspire bolh the local citizens and theiroops mder hiscolmdd in resisting the Anerica. invasion of Upper Canada sosuccessfully.is nfluence d stodingwilh the ndia allies nd ithTecuDseh imelf wd also a Duch-nissedactor n the coming

Firsa Retuforcement!LieuEndt Colonel JohnMacDonell(KlA)York Voluntee6(Mihia)SecondReinfo.cemenasMajor GeneralRogerSheatre4l slFootlst.2nd.4th& 5thLincolnMilitia100 Mohawk ndidsAmeri@D Forces - Major GeneralStePhen m RensselaerTwo batteries f four 6pdrSuns& crewColonelSoloDonvan Renselaer(wIA)l3rh United StaEs nf try16th New York MilitiaLieutendlColonel ohnFenwicktuh UniEd Slates nfinry20thNewYorkMilitiaLieubnmrColonelwinfield Scot (WIA)

2&h united sbter InidrylTLhNewYorkMilitiaOne6pdr8un& cewBrigadier Genecl willim Wadsworth18ft NewYorkMilidaPennsylvaniailitiaMap of the Brttle of QueeNton Heights

WARGAMING TIIE BATTLE OF QUEENSTONIIEIGHTS

BritishFolrs- Vajor CenenlSn I'ac Brock KIAIAt Queenstob 49tb F@tORDER OF BAITLE AT QI,'EENSTON IIEIGHTS

The Baltle of Queensto.Heighlsoffersmdy oPPortunitiesor theinterested layer. frcm straightfoNdd refights of thebatle 1o severalintriguing what'if scenarios. o. our fi6t battlesove. the tableloPPhilud I have beenusing he Priir.ipler o/ Wdr ruleswhich we find havegiveng@d gmes: rllhoughmy Afrencu command a so tu onlyhadonedra* ro their wo defeatsn onr ongoingNiagaiaCmpajgnlThe rules allow the realistic allocation of different fighting potentialsevenwithin nominally sinild typesof Loops.ThDsall lhe RegulaJs onor srait will the sane srenStn, neither do the volunteers.Militia ddAitillery. The allocation nlo types of conmdder and resticrions onrheir nfluence n fte tabletops aho very aPt or this w& in l8l2Thus.n fighringQueensto! eiShE t the able, r is bothPosibleandconect lor Vu Renselaer o beSivena lower rating hm Scolt, h;subordinate.Brock. MacDonell dd Sheaffe sholld all enjoy highcommanddings fo. the historicalrenght.ln layingout the able l i! necesaryonl) to show he Canadianshore,ne villageof Queenlton d theHeighhbedinS ts nameOfcour*. sDfficieDt oomneed o be allowed or Amencu deploymenr nfte shore:so on my table haveone oor wide boardsat the edgewhich@ half waterandhalf lad: before hehigherSroundboardsm placedon the remainingspace.You wiu alsoneed oom 10deployfte Britishreinforcements s they reach h actionfrcm Fort Oeorge-The villageof Queenstonshould not posenny problem for fte gmer; I usedArcbitecturalHeriragemodeh from ny collection and ScenicEtrectsdin rcads or fte iracks. For the look of the thing you dighl wanl todeDlovsone bo models: but ir is nor necessary.Only rcmember odice for De crossingboals o see f they e cdied off cou6e by thestrong eddies n fte riler at tbar point. The map accompdying thisarticle hould iveyou.ll tbehelpyou n@d n setting p te tableThe gme sbould begin with the American gnnne6 {off-table ofcourse) iring a bdage to supprestheir Bntish opposiDnunbes. Youmight ike ro allow two tums or this.allowing the Brilish only to retumire in the second um. After rwo lums rhe batery of 24Pdrgunsa1

lst LincolnMilitiaTwo 3pdrgurs & crewTwo 24p.lrgDns& crew

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29

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NEWREDUCED OSTAGE ATESON ALI. ORDERS LACED ROMOUTSIDETHEUK\ r\ /\ r.CaliverbOOks.Colnvroonan's point may be repasentedby otr-table ire for convenience.The Ame.icnn fiNt wave ldds in turn $fte &d fte gamedevelopsfrcm ftere. In the historical rcfight it is n@essaryo follow rhe ou0ineofelents. allowing Wool o emerge tom rhe ishermansparhabove heBntish l8pdr gunbattery This should nor rale placebefore um nve.The unil deployingmight dice for losses n negotiating he ndow pathin the edly light of the dawn.Brock also uives al the battery n lm 5to lake coImed in person.M&DoneU may dive in lDm sixr Sheafein tum l0 at rheeeliesr.Given tbe diverse natDreof rhe Dnfoldingactions and theindeasing numbersof troops involved wiftin the game. here is theposibility of unitsof both sidesbeing ed in, as ook plnce n thehiro.ical action: growing to over l0O0 by the dme Sheaffe\ forcsenter the table. There is also good scope for lhe rnuhiplayergametbmat. even including role-play elemen$ between he variousAme.icd colnmandes. If you wanted ro diveree into the realm of'whar'if' conliderations henyou mighr ike someor all of lhe Militiaremainingon tne Afrerican bank to have a cbanceof gerdngup theircourageand being eried acrcs in suppodof lhe landings.In a refieht acrcss te rabletop.Br6k maysunive or tbe Americdsmay win a famous victoryr eifter way bringine about a chdge in thecouse of North Americ& hisbry aith nll i1s urther posibilities forfuture gaming. n our ongoing campaignhe Americanshave broughrlhe B.itish to battle at somecost, haling hnd fte wo6e of two of thethreeearlie. engaSements.owever. am hopefuloftuming defeat nto

As I mentionedar he beginningof rhe nicle, my own coll@lion ofBntnh andAmericd lroops de fmm theold wdgamsFoundry dSenow out of prcduclion, culpted believe y Ally Morison. On anDmber f retum visitsto the Foundry n Notinghm I wasable opickupreintbrcement listersat the bargainpriceof !8. Alas. his sourcehasnow dried up. In 25 nm Old Glory have a coDprcheDsive angeavailable, hich oucd brcwse n heirwebsite. 'm notsosuc about

what s available n 15 mm *ale as te litle fellowt {e now beyondmy poorold eyes o painrl believeMinifig! ha! a conprchensiverangeof irgDres,but beyond nar I m sure he aficionadoof the scaiewill know fd more tan I do aboutavailability and rangeof figures.StuaitAsquilhdescnbedte Warof l8l2 - l8l5 as Napoleonicswith Indims', bur I feel it ofie6 fd morc than that tongue n cheekdesc.iptionsuggestsor lhe intercsledgaDer You cd deploy colourfulunits of British and American Regulds resplendeni n fteir bngbtDnitbms alongside be d.abs of Militia and Volunteer units dd tbegaudycoiouB of NativeAnericms - even houeh n reality they woremuch Eurcped inspireddJess y I812!You can ncorporate quabblingcommddeB, nalal actions on a lcale connensurate with 25mmganing ables, Dpply d inforcenenr roblems.he mpact f snowdd fteezing redperarures.he siegeeffons and their reliel combinedoperations,md so on. I hope o cover unher actions n later months6liDe atrd circumstdcespemil Any .eaderswho might like tocorespond witb me about tis, or dy othe. wdgaming matbr can dosoatmyemailaddres Ya*eePedltu@aol.comdd I will do my bestlo tnswer - In the mmtimq enjoyyour gding: il\ a sDre&ddole loall rhesrin news n the real eodd.

BIBLTOGRAPHYAsgniti A warqaner\ Guide o the lE12- lE15 Wat |nhAtnen.aBennThewar of 1812Cattrey TheLion and the UnionElring AMteurs toAms!Feithetsroneme Banlefeld Walker'sHon bookHeidler & Heidler Enq./dl aediaof the WatoJ 1812Mickey The Wat oJ 1812,A Shon Histor!McFtle Rockex' RedGIareSnthJenme Wat of I 8l2