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 When people think of the critical role
Lake Champlain played during the War of 1812,
Plattsburgh and
Vergennes are the cities
that come to mind. There is good reason for this, the role these towns played is
important. Few would think of Burlington. That is unfortunate, for the Village of
Burlington did play a vital role in the defense of the Lakes.
As early as June 1812 troops were building
a Battery along the lake. This earthen embankment, with some
thirteen embrasures, was built by Lt. Sylvester Churchill,
upon the high bluff were Battery Park is now located.
Left: Map showing
the Burlington, Vermont area in 1914
The original 550 regular Army troops were soon
reinforced by additional 700 soldiers marched up from Boston
by Brigadier General John Chandler. Initially, 6 24-pounders
were the armament.1
The battery was
located atop this high bluff,
now the site of Burlington's
lovely Battery Park.
Battery Park circa 1900
Round about Burlington, Vt. 1900 Charles S.
Lord Winooski, Vermont: Vermont Illustrating Company.
(click on thumbnail to see full-size photo)
Before long, a major military presence was established at Burlington.
The Commander of the Cantonment, Colonel Isaac Clark, purchased a 10-acre lot
adjacent to the Battery. The Army base was located in the two-block area now
fronted by Park and Front Streets. Extending approximately from Pearl to North
Street, the base consisted of some 14 buildings. The Soldier's Barracks was a
crude single-story, wooden structure, measuring approximately 110'x18'. Situated
next to
it was the more substantially built, two-story Officer's Quarters. This building
measured some 60'x18'. The hospital was by far the largest structure on the
post. It was 300' long, 20' wide, boasted two stories and a large
cellar. There were storehouses, gun sheds, magazines, and a guardhouse-
all needed to supply a standing army.2
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The hospital was sorely needed, for as
was so often was the case
during the early days of the Republic, illness and disease took a heavy
toll on the crowded troops. Within a few short months, the ranks had swollen to some 4,000 men. Despite
sending 1,600 soldiers to the Plattsburgh base, sickness ran rampant. The
unsanitary, crowded conditions took their toll. Diarrhea, Measles, Smallpox and a
particularly violent and contagious form of pneumonia spread through the
ranks. During the winter of 1812-1813, at least one in 8 of the soldiers died.
Often communities welcome the military to their environs, realizing commercial
gain from having so many new inhabitants with their various needs. The
 residents
of Burlington, however, soon realized the troops brought them more than they had
bargained for. By February 1813, 73 civilians had died from the pneumonia. By
the end of the winter, it is estimated that one in twenty Burlingtonians had
succumbed to the illnesses brought by the troops quartered by the lake.3
By
October 1812, young
Lt. Thomas Macdonough had arrived
in Burlington to assume command of the American fleet on the
lake. His orders were simple- attain and keep control
of the waterway. He was to build the fleet necessary to do this,
and he was to do it in a hurry. Late fall was occupied with
ferrying troops from Burlington to Plattsburgh, after which
the small fleet went into winter quarters in Shelburne bay.
Macdonough left Burlington to marry in December, but soon returned
with his new bride.
In
July 1813, General Wade Hampton arrived in Burlington to command
the forces for the invasion of Canada. However, before he set
out, the British struck first. On August 2 at approximately
2:30 pm; fresh from attacks upon Plattsburgh, New York and Swanton,
Vermont; three ships, the Broke, the Shannon,
and a row galley under the command of Lt. Colonel John Murray
appeared off Burlington. Ironically, just 60 days previously
these same
ships were under American flag, they had been captured and refitted
by the British after being lost in an ill-fated misadventure
in the Richelieu River. They took to bombarding the battery,
making much of a stir but actually doing little damage. After
attacking the battery, the British continued south, towards
Shelburne Bay, where they captured several private vessels.
One of these, Gideon King's 50-ton sloop Essex, was burned
to the waterline after an unsuccessful attempt to tow her back
to Canada. Although Macdonough had a sizable fleet on hand in
Burlington-three sloops, two schooners, two one-gun scows and
a floating battery, he opted not to chase the enemy at this
time. (For a more complete account of Murray’s' Raid, click
here.)
Macdonough's instructions were to regain control of the lakes,
he would do this only by continuing to build and maintain the
size of his fleet. After all, there was an arms race underway.
The British were furiously building a large fleet at
Isle aux Noix.
4
In late October, Hampton's force finally set sail for the
ill-fated invasion of Canada. Macdonough concentrated his efforts on
Vergennes,
where he set out to build his fleet at the
foot of the
falls.
Again, the ominous specter of a North Country winter hovered
over the garrison. With the snow came disease, and the smaller number of troops
suffered as well. One Burlington resident is quoted as saying, "Several
hundred died weekly, and it was not uncommon to find that twenty had died in a
night."5. The militia
went home, and the regular army huddled in its barracks. As troops came to the
city and then embarked off for the front, the garrison alternately swelled and
shrunk in size. Housing continued to be a problem and the Army entered into
negotiations with the University of Vermont, hoping to lease the college
building for a temporary barracks. Vermont governor
Martin
Chittenden, never a
supporter of the war, was outraged. He complained of federal troops
"ranging without constraint through the halls..." This group of
soldiers, known as the College Cantonment, was a constant thorn in the side of
the college's neighbors. Many a hapless trooper was court-martialed for thievery
from the citizens on the hill. Among the punishments meted out was confinement
in ball and chain for up to 30 days.6
As the 1814 campaign opened, Burlington continued to be used as a
staging ground for the unsuccessful attacks against Canada. Finally, in
September, a massive British army crossed the border into the United States at
Champlain, New York. The immediate target was Plattsburgh and the huge munitions
depot there. The hospital again became severely overcrowded with the arrival of
400 sick and wounded evacuated from
Crab Island*.
What American forces
lacked on the ground, however, they more than made up for on the water. On September
11, 1814, General George Prevost sailed his mighty fleet to defeat at
Plattsburgh. Commodore Thomas Macdonough, together with
General Alexander
Macomb, successfully turned the tide against the British in this significant
victory. It is safe to state that many, if not all of the American forces that took part in the great victory, had at one time been stationed in Burlington.
By 1817, the Army had abandoned the
facility. The Army sent Col. H. Atkinson, together with Lt. Colonel G.T. Totten
to make a recommendation as to how to dispose of the once bustling Burlington
Cantonment. Their report to the Secretary of War, issued August 16, 1817
makes for fascinating reading. Their recommendation was to sell the property, a
hundred acre wood lot to the north being the key selling point. The report that
"the Barracks were slightly built, and are falling to pieces" is
especially telling. Continuing in their description of the Barracks-
"...there is not a post, stud, or brace in the sides or ends of the whole
building... the whole of the Barracks are put together in the corsest (sic)
manner...' the cracks between the edges of the planks that form the walls are
stopped with battens. These buildings were never fit to put troops in, only
on temporary cases of emergency, in the summer months, and are not now worth
preserving...".7
Views of Battery Park-Burlington, Vermont
(click on thumbnail to see full-size photo)
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Sources/Notes:
1Karen Stites Campbell, "Propaganda, Pestilence and Prosperity:
Burlington's Camptown Days During the War of 1812" (VERMONT HISTORY- The proceedings of the Vermont Historical
Society, Summer 1996) 138.
2National Archives, Record Group 107:H. Atkinson
letter, Letters Rec'd by Secy.
of War File A-68 (1817)
3Campbell 146, 147.
4Russell P. Bellico, "SAILS AND STEAM IN THE
MOUNTAINS- A Maritime and Military History of Lake George and
Lake Champlain," (Fleischmanns, New York: Purple Mountain
Press, Ltd., 1992) 210
5Walter Hill Crockett, "A History of Lake
Champlain," (Burlington, Vermont: Hobart J. Shanley & Co. 1909) 253
6Campbell 152, 153.
7National Archives. Record Group 107:H. Atkinson
letter, Letters Rec'd by Secy.
of War File A-68 (1817)
8 James Mann, "MEDICAL
SKETCHES OF THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1812, 13, 14. TO WHICH ARE ADDED, SURGICAL CASES;
OBSERVATIONS ON MILITARY HOSPITALS; AND FLYING HOSPITALS ATTACHED TO A MOVING
ARMY." 1816 (DEDHAM: Printed by H. Mann and Co.) 152, 153
Last modified:
12/21/2009
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