The Battle of Chateauguay was a battle of the War of 1812 on October 25, 1813. The battle was a decisive victory for the British, who managed to turn back a much larger American invasion force.

In October of 1813, American Major-General Wade Hampton marched from Lake Champlain towards the Saint Lawrence River, in an attempt to unite with General James Wilkinson for an attack on Montreal. On October 25, Hampton came upon an abatis (a roadblock) near Spears’ Farm created by Canadian Voltigeurs under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Charles de Salaberry. Salaberry had many informants among the farmers in the area, and had accurate information about Hampton's size and movements, while Hampton had very poor intelligence about Salaberry's force. Hampton actually believed Salaberry outnumbered him, although he had about 4,000 troops, eight times as many as Salaberry.

While Hampton attempted to clear the roadblock, he sent Colonel Robert Purdy with 1,500 troops to flank the Canadians in the forest along the road. Purdy was routed by Salaberry and a small force of Mohawks, who pushed them back towards the Chateauguay River. Meanwhile, after Hampton cleared the road, his troops fired on the supposed Canadian positions in the forest. Salaberry had spread his troops out over a wide area, and used bugles and Mohawk war cries to suggest that his force was as large as Hampton believed it to be. As a result, very few Canadians were killed, and Hampton withdrew when Purdy returned in defeat from his raid.

External links

• An Account of the Battle of Chateauguay by William D. Lighthall, 1889, from Project Gutenberg