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War of 1812, Part 15: Battle of Crysler’s Farm
The American flotilla of 300 boats conveying General James Wilkinson’s army to Montreal entered the St. Lawrence River on November 5, 1813, but the British were not idle and immediately began to harass the Americans on both land and sea. British Captain William Mulcaster had pierced Commodore Isaac Chauncey’s blockade of Kingston with several gunboats and proceeded to snipe at the rear guard of the American contingent from the river. At the same time, six hundred British troops under Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Morrison marched down the north shore of the St. Lawrence to further annoy the Americans with musketry and cannon shot from the banks.
War of 1812, Part 14: Command Issues in the American Army
Major General Henry Dearborn was tasked by President James Madison with conducting the right wing of the American invasion of Canada. The objective of this thrust was to capture Montreal and close off the Saint Lawrence River, thereby severing the British supply line to Upper Canada. This responsibility would have been formidable for any commander, but it was especially so for a General in his sixty-second year and in poor health who had not seen active military service since the American Revolution.