A TALE OF TWO FORTS

[Music] this is the niagara river between the united states and canada during the war of 1812 it was the scene of battle between our country and england we held fort niagara the english held fort george we'll see how the struggle went and what happened afterwards today as discovery goes back to the tale of two forts [Music] discovery 70 the award-winning program for young people with virginia gibson [Music] more than 300 years ago this land around lake ontario was indian land the french were the first europeans to come in numbers they came in small sailing vessels such as this searching for wealth and power in these new lands it was the midpoint of the age of exploration the prestige and wealth of the nations of europe depended on the value of new lands sea power meant not just naval power but trading power this is fort niagara on the point of land where the niagara river flows into lake ontario 14 miles below the great falls the french chose the fort's position well it's protected on three sides by water the french were the first to successfully establish a fortier two earlier attempts had failed when the cold weather and the unfriendly indians had wiped out the settlements but finally in 1725 the french obtained permission from the indians to build a stone house by calling it a stone house and building it in the form of a typical french canadian house instead of a fort or stockade the french delayed the suspicions of the indians but this was no ordinary house [Music] [Applause] [Music] fort niagara was to remain french only 32 years during that time the french prepared for the attack they knew was coming from the british while the fort was protected on three sides by the lake the land side had to be heavily guarded by ramparts the arrowhead outerworks was the first line of defense if it fell the men would retreat through that gate called a sally port the pursuing enemy was then under the crossfire from these casemates [Music] fort niagara overlooked what had been called the gateway to the west this gateway was vital to french plans for expansion in this country the english knew this and sir william pitt said in the british parliament that fort niagara must be taken at all costs in 1759 after 18 days of siege fort niagara fell to the british the two block houses of the fort were british additions to the fortifications they were designed to be manned by 20 soldiers with musket openings on two [Music] floors [Music] the wooden roof could be quickly dismantled in case of attack since direct hits from artillery caused flying wood splinters during the american revolution fort niagara was held by the british and became a refuge for english royalists nearly 8 000 loyal british subjects passed through the fort we're british sympathizers will you be in the sanctuary russian granite [Applause] later they might cross the river settling on the canadian side of the niagara river american settlers didn't come to this frontier until after the revolution until that time it had been mainly a trading center bringing in supplies and shipping out furs to europe when the fort was finally turned over to the new nation in 1796 the english withdrew to canada leaving it in the hands of a small detachment of american artillery men [Music] whew [Music] in the early 1800s this fort now finally american served primarily as a small garrison protecting the countryside from the indians who still controlled much of the niagara area whole families would retreat to the safety of the fort where they would live until the danger passed an american addition to the fortifications was this hotshot oven a stone furnace used to heat cannonballs red hot before they were fired they were put into the oven here then they rolled down to stop over the fire pot where they were heated before being removed from the oven tongs were used to load them into the specially designed hotshot cannon hotshot had certain advantages particularly in a harbor it was very effective against wooden ships with canvas sails also the heated cannonballs had a tendency to explode when hitting water if they landed within a fort their heat made it difficult for the enemy to immediately reuse them in return fire when the british gave up fort niagara they built a new fort across the river on the canadian side it was called fort george it played an important part in the war of 1812 the war that has often been called the second war for independence news that war had been declared reached the british side before the americans knew of it we'll see how the americans learned they were at war and we'll do that in just a minute the location of fort george and the canadian side of the niagara river was unfortunate it didn't have the ideal location fort niagara had across the river the british fort was hard to defend since it was set back from lake ontario and could be attacked on all sides it was of the stockade or log type of fort similar to the forts that were built in our own west massive logs like this one were brought in from the nearby forest and prepared in this saw pit all of the sawing was done by hand with two men on the pit saw one at the top of the log and one in the [Music] pit [Music] [Applause] [Music] the logs were cut lengthwise into timber and these were interlocked at the [Music] corners [Music] the english hope to continue as a power in the new world perhaps even regain lost colonies in europe england was at war with napoleon's france and had been for some time our country new to the game of world politics and trying to do business with both england and france found itself in danger of becoming an enemy of both [Music] our immediate problem with england was her insistence on the right to control the seas and with that right she felt she could stop any of our ships and search them in these searches she would often claim that some of our seamen were deserters from her navy and would take them or impress them it has been estimated that more than 4 000 men were taken off of american ships by the british [Music] finally president madison charged that britain was using the divisive war with france as an excuse to maintain her own monopoly of the sea at our expense however there was much feeling against a war with england many felt that instead of stopping the impressment of american sea men and establishing freedom of the seas war was more likely to cause more suffering and greater financial loss nevertheless on june 17 1812 congress declared war on great britain [Music] while tension had been building between countries friendships had grown up between the english and american soldiers garrisoned at the two forts and visiting back and forth was a way of breaking the monotony of military life general steven van rensseleer commanded fort niagara fort george was commanded by general isaac brock to a happy and long friendship [Applause] you know the place well don't you [Music] excuse me gentlemen communications were not rapid at that time and the americans at fort niagara did not know congress had declared war on britain the first word of it was received by the british at fort george gentlemen we are at war congress of the united states has declared war on england [Music] well i think uh the colonel better get back to fort niagara gentlemen one last drink for past friendships [Music] asbridge [Music] it would be a long time before any of these good friends would see each other again and many of them never would the war of 1812 was starting it was a confused war and one of its most confusing battles was a disastrous defeat for the american forces it was the battle of queenston heights and was fought between the forces from fort niagara and fort george we'll see how the day was won and then lost we'll do that in just a minute [Music] this is the niagara river at queenston heights in canada where as it was generally known by the americans general brock had about 1700 men posted along his string of fortifications on the west bank the american side was considerably stronger about seven thousand men but divided two american generals van rensselaer and smith had two different opinions on how to fight the british smith wanted to attack them at fort erie at the end of their defense line van rensselaer felt that striking across the niagara river at the center of their line was wisest and rensselaer went ahead with his plan while smith stayed out of it [Music] finally about a thousand men were landed and after climbing this little used path to the top of the 250-foot embankment to queenston heights a small force seized a battery and planted the american flag [Applause] this was an early victory but it didn't last long state militiamen on the american side had decided that since they were not required to fight outside the country they would not cross the river however on the canadian side the british forces were rallying to the defense of queenston heights at fort george general brock had been working on his dispatches when he heard the distant gunfire he had been expecting an attack he was also aware of the deep divisions and indecision on the american side there was no indecision on brock's part as he rode to queenston he ordered up reinforcements along the [Music] way general brock himself was destined never to see the outcome of the battle just as he reached the heights he was hit by sniper fire and mortally wounded [Music] while the infantry fought in the field the two forts opened artillery fire foreign [Music] the battle lasted only a day without the necessary reinforcements from the american side the british forces were able to overwhelm the invading force and drive them back to the river's edge in that short time it was estimated that 1300 americans were killed wounded or captured [Applause] [Music] [Applause] the american general van rensselaer although wounded three times kept fighting until he was wounded a fourth time [Music] the british general brock had been a respected foe of the americans and although we had been defeated by the british during his funeral service at fort george the guns of fort niagara saluted the fallen general [Music] even if we had won the battle of queenston heights historians believe it would not have been important to the war when the war was ended by the treaty of ghent in 1814 the border between canada and the united states had not changed fort niagara had fallen to the english but the peace treaty returned it to us since then there has been peace between our two countries fort niagara and fort george are part of the world's longest peaceful border we'll be back in just a minute we hope you've enjoyed today's program if you'd like to find out more about the history of the niagara frontier then ask your librarian for these books niagara falls by robert west howard and the french and indian wars by francis russell be sure to be with us next week for another exciting program as discovery continues to discover the world [Music] [Applause] [Music] bye [Music] so [Music] this has been a jewels power production in association with abc news you