Battle of Sackett's Harbor

Second Battle of Sacket's Harbor

Plan of the Battle of Sackett's Harbor, from Benson J. Lossing's Field Book of the War of 1812

Date	28 May – 29 May 1813
Location	Sackets Harbor, New York
Result	American victory

Belligerents

United States

United Kingdom

Commanders and leaders

Strength

Land:
~500 regulars,
~900 militia,
2 field guns,
2 forts
Sea:
2 schooners
Total: 1,400

Land:
~870 infantry,
2 field guns
Sea:
3 sloops-of-war
2 brigs-of-war
1 schooner

Casualties and losses

153 killed and wounded
154 captured
Total: 307

30 killed
200 wounded
35 wounded prisoners
Total: 265

The Second Battle of Sacket's Harbor or simply the Battle of Sacket's Harbor, took place on 29 May 1813, during the War of 1812. A British force was transported across Lake Ontario and attempted to capture the town, which was the principal dockyard and base for the American naval squadron on the lake. They were repulsed by American regulars and militia.

In the early weeks of the War, the British had seized control of the Great Lakes. In September 1812 U.S. Navy Captain Isaac Chauncey was ordered to assume command of naval forces on Lakes Ontario and Erie with the directive to "...use every exertion to obtain control of them this fall." Within three weeks he had directed and brought 149 ships' carpenters, 700 Seamen and Marines and some 100 cannon, along with a good quantity of muskets and other supplies, to Sacket's Harbor on Lake Ontario where there was already a small navy yard.

At the start of the campaigning season of 1813, the main American forces on the border between the United States and Canada had been concentrated at Sacket's Harbor. The naval squadron which Chauncey had created was superior to the opposing British and Canadian-manned squadron at Kingston, and the troops under Major General Henry Dearborn could outnumber the British at any point on their extended front. The Americans had a chance to storm Kingston, which would have eliminated the British squadron and perhaps allowed the Americans to secure almost all of Upper Canada, but Dearborn and Chauncey exaggerated the number of British regulars stationed there. Instead they proceeded to attack York, the Provincial capital of Upper Canada, at the other end of the lake. On 27 April, the Americans won the Battle of York, temporarily occupying and looting the town. They then withdrew to Fort Niagara near the mouth of the Niagara River, preparing to attack the British position at Fort George on the opposite side of the river.

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Wikipedia