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Namesake
Chippewa - General Phineas Riall with 1,700 British regulars and a small number of Canadian militia and Indians, held a defensive position on the north bank of the unaffordable Chippewa
River, 16 miles north of Ft. Erie. Major General Jacob Brown bivouacked on the south bank of Street’s Creek, a mile south of the river (July 4). A flat plain lay between the two forces.
Riall crossed the Chippewa next day, driving in a militia and Indian force on Brown’s left, only to meet Brigadier General Winfield Scott’s brigade, 1,300 strong. Riall, noting the gray
uniforms of the Americans, believed them to be militia. But when, under fire, they formed a line with parade-ground precision and moved to meet him with fixed bayonets, he is said to have
exclaimed: “These are regulars, by God!” Scott led a charge that drove the British back in complete defeat across the river and into their entrenchments. British losses were 236 killed,
322 wounded, and 46 captured. Scott’s losses were 61 killed, 255 wounded, and 19 captured.
Photo - Chippewa, Upper Canada, 5 July 1814. The British commander watched the advancing American line contemptuously, for its men wore the rough gray coats issued those untrained
levies he had easily whipped before. As the ranks advanced steadily through murderous grapeshot he realized his mistake: "Those are regulars, by God!" It was Winfield Scott's brigade of
infantry, drilled through the previous winter into a crack outfit. It drove the British from the battlefield; better still, after two years of seemingly endless failures, it renewed the
American soldier's faith in himself. (US Army Center of Military History DA Poster 21-39 The Battle of Chippewa by H. Charles McBarron, Jr.)
Map - Battle of Chippewa Falls (Buffalo Rising)
| Tommy Trampp |
