Battle of Chippawa service taking place next week
The bloody Battle of Chippawa will be commemorated with a ceremony being hosted on the grounds of the battlefield on Friday, July 5.
Niagara Parks annou-Commission is joining with Royal Canadian Legion Branch 396 in Chippawa to host the hourlong ceremony at 7 p.m. to honour all those who fought and died on the battleground.
The Chippawa battle, fought on July 5, 1814, marked the start of the engagement of the Niagara campaign, the part of the war that the parks commission said was the longest and bloodiest operation of the War of 1812.
Parks Canada said more than 200 American, British, Canadian and Indigenous fighters were killed and more than 500 were wounded in the battle in Chippawa.
The commemorative service is held each year to remember the soldiers who fell in battle on the field.
Parks Canada said on the morning of July 5, Maj.-Gen. Phineas Riall, in charge of the British, Canadian and Indigenous force, sent a small contingent of troops to attack the Americans with sniper fire and to scout their numbers. The returning troops told Riall that the Americans appeared to be militiamen — not highly trained regular troops — because they wore grey uniforms typical of militiamen.
But the U.S. National Park Service said that was wrong: The American forces were actually highly trained regular soldiers, who normally wore blue uniforms.
Thinking he faced poorly trained fighters, Riall attacked with his force of 1,400 regulars, 70 cavalrymen and 300 Indigenous allies, Parks Canada said.
As both sides prepared for battle and marched on the fields of Samuel Street’s farm, Parks Canada said Riall realized the American force of about 3,500 men were actually highly trained regulars.
The U.S. Parks Service said the American forces caught the British in a crossfire, inflicting heavy losses.
The fighting started early in the morning and lasted until nearly 6 p.m. When it was over, the British were forced to withdraw and the Americans won the day, the parks commission said.
The battle marked the first time that U.S. army regulars stood up to British professionals in the war, the U.S. Parks Service said, noting the engagement is considered a major milestone in the development of the U.S. army.
But just three weeks later, the invaders were turned back at the bloody Battle of Lundy’s Lane, fought on July 25, 1814.
The battlefield site is off the Niagara Parkway, north of Edgeworth Road.
Niagara Parks said it acquired the site in 1995 and has preserved 121 hectares (300 acres) of the pristine battlefield.