This sign often confused me first oft why would they build their
barracks away from Ellicott Creek? If as the sign stated "Along Garrison
Road to creek and extending southeast" it would take you away from the
creek who would want to carry water any further than they had to especially
in the winter? Well that's what set off my quest for the Barracks.The Barracks
and Hospital in Williamsville has almost mythical status. It might be termed
the Unicorn of the village since it is often spoken of and imagined but never
seen.
The first thing I noticed in my search was it wasn't referred
to as barracks or a garrison at Williamsville, its official name was the Cantonment
at Williamsville so what is a cantonment you may ask? Cantonments are places
of encampment formed by troops for a more permanent stay, or while in winter
quarters.
My first steps was to find the oldest maps of the Village of
Williams and Amherst that I could find the first was a map of the village
in 1854 the next was a map of the Village in 1866 both of these maps showed
Garrison Road, prior to being named Garrison Road it was the Lancaster Road
as recent as 1851 which I noticed on a deed, prior to being named the Lancaster
Road it was originally known as the Colborn Settlement Road. My second step
was to start researching the war of 1812 and Williamsville. All contemporary
writings said that during the time of the War of 1812 the Village was known
as Williams Mills, this however is not the case, in many letters from military
officers and doctors stationed there it was always referred to as Williamsville
or Williams Ville. Also it was never referred to as the Barracks it was the
Williamsville Cantonment.
From the Book Snake Hill: An Investigation of a Military Cemetery from the
War of 1812
The hospital at Williamsville, about 19 km east of Buffalo. The site was picked
on 29 July on the recommendation of the senior surgeon, Dr. Ezekiah Bull.
Thus, 37 ha and the stables of Raphael Cook's farm were leased for the construction
of a general hospital. Ironically, the contract specified "no burying
place in the premises." Despite this, a well cared for series of mass
graves remain as the last vestige of this hospital. These further provide
evidence that having a burying ground adjacent to a medical facility was an
accepted practice. The Williamsville cemetery contains the remains of both
U.S. and British personnel in a series of mass graves. The British remains
are set apart on one edge of the plot. This segregation of enemy and friendly
dead seems to have been a common, if not official, practice on both sides.
For example, after Lundy's Lane, the British buried their dead while cremating
American remains on the field. Likewise, the Americans report after the battles
at Chippawa and Cook's Mills, and Drummond's 15 August attack that the British
dead were buried separately from the Americans. The separation of enemy dead
from friendly is a custom that has endured to the present.
As soon as it was decided to concentrate patients at Williamsville, a vigorous
building project was begun. At first, a large tent city was erected as indicated
by the use of 3,000 board feet of timber for flooring 100 hospital tents and
12 loads of hay for bed ticking. Each tent could hold 16 to 18 men. Captain
John Larkin was named supervisory quartermaster for the construction of the
Williamsville Hospital. He brought in skilled workmen from as far away as
Rochester and Utica. Huge quantities of locally produced brick were purchased
in Buffalo and hauled to Williamsville to be used for construction of the
hospital barracks. The permanent nature of the structures may be seen in the
later purchase of glass and shingles needed to complete them. Patients began
being moved to the Williamsville site on 30 July.
So as mentioned in the Book Snake Hill: An Investigation of
a Military Cemetery from the War of 1812 and two other sources: 37 hectares
or approximately 91.5 acres of the elusive Raphael Cook's farm were leased
for the construction of a general hospital, I have researched Mr. Cook and
he did exist and he died in Buffalo, NY in 1822. I cannot however find any
deeds to land that he owned outside of the Village of Buffalo.
Figure 5 Lineage Book by Daughters of the American Revolution
Source:
Susan Pfeiffer "Snake Hill: An Investigation of a Military Cemetery from
the War of 1812" (Dundurn Press, 1991. ISBN 1?55002?090?0): p. 40.
Raphael Cook came to Buffalo as early as 1810, rented a building
and established a public house on Main street opposite Pomeroy's. "Cook's
Tavern" became a celebrated hostelry. Mr. Cook returned to Buffalo after
the war and opened a tavern on the site of the Tifft House, in a building
known long after as the "Old Phoenix Hotel." He died April 15, 1821,
aged sixty-five years.
Source:
History of the City of Buffalo and Erie County with Illustrations and Biographical
Sketches of Some of its Prominent Men and Pioneers 1884
Volume 2: History of Buffalo Page 45
I do have a theory though. If you were going to build a Hospital
or Barracks in the early 19th century what is the first thing you would need?
Fresh water! Not creek water you'd get your men sick if they had to rely on
creek water. That's were Lehn's Springs comes in, plenty of fresh water there
and guess what its outside of the Village Limits at the time. That land was
owned by Gamaliel St. John he purchased Lots 8, 9, and 20 in Township 11 Range
7 and Lot 24 in Township 12 Range 7
Source: Karen E. Livsey "Western New York Land Transactions, 1804-1824:
Extracted from the Archives of the Holland Land Company" (Genealogical
Publishing co., 1991 ISBN: 9780806312941): p. 21.
Lot 20 in Township 11 Range 7 which is present day Lehn Springs Development
is the one that interests me, first of all it is actually outside of the Village
and really not even considered Amherst, Township 11 Range 7 is Cheektowaga
according to the Holland Land Company Survey maps.
Figure 6 Holland Company Survey Maps of Townships 11
& 12 Range 7
Blue outline is boundary is of Gamaliel St. John farm purchased
1807 overlaid on Google Earth to show present day roads. Gamaliel St. John
sold the farm to John Frick most recently known as the Lehn farm. The Frick
family lived there until the war of 1812.
I found this reference in the AMHERST BEE-Story-August 16th, 1923 HISTORY
OF LEHN FAMILY Paper Prepared by Ida L. Zent and read at Old Home Day Reunion
Saturday, August 4, 1923.
Source
The Lehn family were among the early settlers in Williamsville.
John Frick was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1761, one hundred
and sixty-two years ago. In 1807, with his wife and seven children, he emigrated
from Pennsylvania to Western New York, and after looking about for a suitable
place in which to live he purchased a farm of Mr. St. John now known as the
Lehn farm. The family lived there until the war of 1812. The barracks as we
all know are about one-fourth of a mile from this farm, and while caring for
the sick and wounded soldiers at the time Mr. Frick fell a victim to overwork
and his body was laid to rest on his farm. Later the remains were interred
on the Lehn lot at Harris Hill and now rest by the side of his daughter, Elizabeth
Lehn.
The Frick family remained on this farm until the burning of Buffalo, in 1813,
when with many other settlers they returned to Pennsylvania, making the entire
distance with teams, the only mode of travel at that time.
One of his family, Elizabeth, married Henry Lehn of Manheim, Pennsylvania,
in 1819. Seven years later with two children, Mary and John Lehn, they came
to Williamsville and purchased the farm formerly owned by Mrs. Lehn's father,
John Frick, and for one hundred and sixteen years the property has been in
the Lehn family, well known as the Lehn farm on Garrison road. A log house
used to mark the place where the family made their first home in New York
State, but was destroyed by some of the tenants. Later Mr. Lehn bought the
house on Main Street now owned by Rupert Huck, obtained by him of the Lehn
heirs, and in this home the family resided for over sixty years. While living
here two more children were born, Nancy and Elizabeth Lehn. At one time Grandma
Lehn rode on Horseback to her old home in Pennsylvania, holding little Mary
Lehn in her arms all of the way, and used to tell many thrilling stories of
her journey.
Mary Lehn married Adam Rinewalt. Four children were born of this union, Sarah
who married George Baine, Charlotte, who married Charles Ingersoll, and Henry
and Adam L. Rinewalt. All of the family have passed on with the exception
of Mrs. Charlotte B. Ingersoll, who at the present time is spending three
months in traveling abroad, and is in her eighty-second year. Mary Lehn Rinewalt
died at the age of seventy-five years. John Lehn married Amelia Coe, one son
Henry was born and now resides in Buffalo. John Lehn died at the age of eighty-three
years.Nancy Lehn married Philip J. Zent. One daughter Ida L. Zent was the
result of this union, and is with us today. Nancy Lehn Zent died at the age
of eighty-eight years. Elizabeth Lehn, unmarried died when over eighty years
of age. Henry Lehn, the father, died at the age of seventy-five years and
the mother Elizabeth Lehn, was over ninety-years old when she died. The family
for generations were very long lived. So a cording to the Paper Prepared by
Ida L. Zent and read at Old Home Day Reunion Saturday, August 4, 1923 John
Frick purchased the St. John Farm where he lived until the War of 1812 broke
out, when caring for the sick and wounded soldiers, he fell victim to overwork
and died.
The story also states matter-of-factly "The barracks as we all know are
about one-fourth of a mile from this farm." Just like everyone knew where
the location of the barracks where, and that was in 1923 the story also states
that "One of his family, Elizabeth, married Henry Lehn of Manheim, Pennsylvania,
in 1819. Seven years later with two children, Mary and John Lehn, they came
to Williamsville and purchased the farm formerly owned by Mrs. Lehn's father,
John Frick, and for one hundred and sixteen years the property has been in
the Lehn family, well known as the Lehn farm on Garrison road. A log house
used to mark the place where the family made their first home in New York
State"
I believe that after the death of John Frick and after the burning of Buffalo
the Frick family left the farm and returned to Pennsylvania and placed the
farm and land in the care of Raphael Cook, and at that time he may have leased
part of the land to the government for the hospital. Also In the Book Snake
Hill: An Investigation of a Military Cemetery from the War of 1812 it is stated
that 90 acres of land was leased and Lots 9 & 20 of Township 11 Range
7 of the Frick farm are both each approximately 90 acres. The Frick/Lehn Farm
Cabin was located near the north east corner of present day Garrison Road
and Wehrle Drive as stated in the article.
Figure 7 Holland Company Survey Maps of Townships 11
& 12 Range 7 with proposed search area
The .25 mile radius from the Frick/Lehn Farm would also extend
into Lot 9 & 20 of Township 11 Range 7 see the above Holland Land Company
Survey Maps. The Green Circle is the Frick/Lehn Farm site it was located near
the north east corner of present day Garrison Road and Wehrle Drive. Also
on the map I have the Thomas Coe Land outlined with yellow boundaries, the
reason being I found two references to the Coe family and the Cantonment.
First I found that Thomas Coe purchased Lots 6 & 7 in Township 11 Range
7 containing 202 acres on October 17th 1821 Recorded in Library 7 Page 207
But here is the exciting part, I found two Obituaries in the book Early settlers
of New York State: their ancestors and descendants By Janet Wethy Foley.
Figure 8 Obituaries in the book Early settlers of New
York State
First was Charlotte Coe she was the daughter in-law of Thomas
Coe, The obituary reads:
Coe, Charlotte, w of Thomas D.,
native of Fulham, near London, Eng. Jan. 4, 1833, 36y.
D at the cantonment near Williamsville.
The Second was of Thomas Coe himself, The obituary reads:
Coe, Thomas, May 21 1838, 80y.
D at the cantonment near Williamsville.
Also an ad dated August 14th, 1814 by E.W. Bull Hospital Surgeon
placed in the Buffalo Gazette offering a reward for a stolen horse states:
Figure 9 Buffalo Gazette August 29, 1814
This is the same Dr. Bull that was mentioned in the book Snake
Hill: An Investigation of a Military Cemetery from the War of 1812 which states:
The site was picked on 29 July on the recommendation of the senior surgeon,
Dr. Ezekiah Bull. Why would the good doctor refer to the Hospital Lot as near
Willimasville if it was in Williamsville?
Williamsville at the time of the war was designated as Lot number
one in Township 12 Range 7 it contained 300 acres according to the deed dated
April 20, 1808
Figure 10 JonasWilliams deed to Township 12 Range 7
Lot 1 dated April 20, 1808
Figure 11 Present day with Lot 1 boundries in red
Ok so they have plenty of fresh water at Amherst/Lehn Spring
for a Cantonment and it's not in Williamsville but near and its .25 mile from
the Frick/Lehn farm. So I found this Ariel Photo of the area from 1927.
Figure12 Aerial Photo of the area from Fairchild Aerial
Surveys 1927
Figure 13 Aerial Photo with site markers from Fairchild
Aerial Surveys 1927
Figure 14 Aerial Photo of the Marsh mentioned by Dr.
Joseph Lovell
The line of white dots in the Photo of the Frick/Lehn Farm area
from Fairchild Aerial Surveys 1927 had me perplexed for the longest time,
what were these white dots all in a line in the middle of a meadow with nothing
else around them? Then it finally came to me. I believe the lines of white
circles in the meadow are the remains of the Soldiers Huts the white piles
are the stone used for the fireplaces in the huts. This area was outside of
Williamsville at the time. It is now the Lehn Springs Development
Also in the book Niagara Frontier Miscellany Buffalo Historical
Society Editor Robert Warwick Bingham Page 101. States:
On the first of August 1814, the Williamsville hospital was
designated as a general military hospital, and Dr. Joseph Lovell was appointed
hospital surgeon. In his report of the campaign of 1814, he states that in
June number of new recruits joined the army, and as the winter was very warm,
a thick fog arose from marsh and woods at sunset. This undoubtedly was largely
accountable for the intermittent fever, acute rheumatism and typhus that broke
out among the men at that period.
In the above Figure 14 Aerial Photo in
the lower left corner I believe is the location of the marsh that is mentioned.
The Huts
The first Soldier Huts built in the area that I found are referenced
below Eleven Mile creek is now called Ellicott creek, it was called Eleven
Mile creek because at the point where it crosses Main street it is approximately
11 miles to the Village of Buffalo.
Figure 15 letter dated December 12, 1812 Lt. Patrick
McDonough to his parents
Source: The Documentary History of the Campaign Upon the Niagara Frontier
in The Year 1812
By Lundy's Lane Historical Society, Ernest Alexander Cruikshank Link
Also in the Book THE EARLY FIRM OF JUBA STORRS & COMPANY
READ AT CLUB MEETINGS FEB l6 1874 AND IN 1877 BY THE REV ALBERT BIGELOW
This book also stated that the barracks and the hospital were established
about a mile from Williamsville up the creek. (See below)
Figure 16 Passage from Rev. Albert Bigelow "The
Early Firm of Juba Storrs & Co." p. 117.
Source:
The Hospital Barracks were also mentioned in the US ARMY
MEDICAL DEPARTMENT Office of Medical History.
Figure 17 THE ARMY MEDICAL DEPT, I 775
- I 8 I 8 Early Campaigns in the North: 1812-1813 p.169
The foot note #57 for the above passage:
Figure 18 THE ARMY MEDICAL DEPT, I 775 - I 8 I 8 Early
Campaigns in the North: 1812-1813 p.260
I believe that the same kind of Soldier Huts where constructed
in the War of 1812 as they were constructed during the Revolutionary War at
Valley Forge. I don't believe Hut Technology advanced much during that bit
of time.
Figure 19 Valley Forge Soldier's Hut Model
Source
Valley Forge soldier's hut model Research and Documentation
There is very little eyewitness evidence for the building of
these huts and only the briefest contemporary documentation, which indicates
each hut, was to be built by the twelve men intended to occupy it. Details
on the intended hut design is contained in Washington's Orderly Book, as follows:
There is only one (to my knowledge) eyewitness account of the
building of the winter huts at Valley Forge. It derives from the diary and
recollections of soldier Joseph Plumb Martin, and was published in the 19th
century as "A Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier" The complete
text of his description of hut construction is shown below, right, but specific
extracts will be inserted where relevant in the following discussion.
"The next thing is the erecting of the huts; they were
generally about twelve by fifteen or sixteen feet square, (all uniformly of
the same dimensions,) the building of them was thus; after procuring the most
suitable timber for the business, it was laid up by notching them in at the
four corners. When arrived at the proper heighth, about seven feet, the two
end sticks which held those that served for plates were made to jut out about
a foot from the sides and a straight pole made to rest on them, parallel to
the plates; the gable ends were then formed by laying on pieces with straight
poles on each, which served for ribs to hold the covering, drawing in gradually
to the ridge pole. Now for the covering; this was done by sawing some of the
larger trees into cuts about four feet in length, splitting them into bolts,
and riving them into shingles, or rather staves; the covering then commenced
by laying on those staves, resting the lower ends on the poles by the plates,
they were laid on in two thicknesses, carefully breaking joints; these were
then bound on by a straight pole with withes, then another double tier with
the butts resting on this pole and bound on as before, and so on to the end
of the chapter. A chimney was then built at the centre of the backside, composed
of stone as high as the eves and finished with sticks and clay, if clay was
to be had, if not, with mud. The last thing was to hew stuff and build us
up cabins or births to sleep in, and then the buildings were fitted for the
reception of gentlemen soldiers, with all their rich and gay furniture.
In Conclusion
I believe that the Cantonment which contained the Barracks/Huts and Hospital
was located in the present day Lehn Springs Development area. The white dots
seen in the aerial photo from 1927 are what remained of the last of the piles
of stones from the fireplaces in the huts. All of the clues have brought me
to this area.
First the account of Ida L. Zent of the Lehn Family read
at Old Home Day Reunion Saturday, August 4, 1923. Stated that the family farm
was less than a quarter mile away from the barracks and that John Frick died
of exhaustion while caring for the sick and wounded soldiers.
The Charlotte & Thomas Coe Obituaries which state that they both died
at the "Cantonment near Williamsville" all this time everyone assumed
the hospital cantonment was actually in the Village when it wasn't, as well
as the proximity of their land to the hospital cantonment.
The Buffalo
Gazette August 29, 1814 ad by Dr. Bull which refers to the Hospital Lot as
near Willimasville.
Dr. Joseph Lovell letter that mentions a thick fog arose
from marsh and woods at sunset.
The Holland Land Company Survey Maps showing that lot 20
was then in Township 11 Range 7 not Township 12 Range 7.
The Letter from Lieutenant Patrick McDonogh to his Parents dated Williamsville
December 12th 1812. Stating they were building huts on the Eleven Mile creek.
As well as the account in the Publications of the Buffalo Historical Society,
Volume 4 THE EARLY FIRM OF JUBA STORRS & COMPANY READ AT CLUB MEETINGS
FEB l6 1874 AND IN 1877 BY THE REV ALBERT BIGELOW which places the Hospital
and Barracks about a mile from Williamsville up the creek.
If you follow the known wagon roads at the time from the Evans House which
was the Army's temporary Head Quarters to the proposed location in the Lehn
Springs Development it is .87 miles or about a mile the path would have been
from the Evans House East on The Batavia Road (Present day Main Street) to
the Colborn Settlement Road South (Present day Garrison Road) to the Cantonment
which is just west of present day Lehn Springs Drive.
Then finally the Aerial Photo from 1927 that show the weird and wonderful
white dots all in a row in the middle of the meadow with nothing else around
them, which I believe are the remains of the base of the fireplaces of the
soldiers huts.
For these reasons I have deduced that the Cantonment which contained the Barracks/Huts
and Hospital was located in the Lehn Springs Development.
Figure 20 Aerial
Photo of Lehn Springs area from Fairchild Aerial Surveys 1927 overlay on Google
Earth showing white dots
Figure 21 Present day Lehn Springs Development
the red outline is where white dots are on 1927 aerial photo.
Figure 22 Present day Lehn Springs Development with
possible hut location and lot lines
Black rectangles represent the War of 1812 soldiers huts each
one is approximately 16' X 14' the piles of stones from the 1927 Aerial photo
were used to position the locations. The upper first row is where the stone
piles where located, the lot lines and numbers represents their present street
addresses on Lehn Springs Drive.
Figure 23 Soldiers Hut Dimensions from Valley Forge
Models
Source
Figure 24 1815 Map
Notice the two circles just below the Batavia Road where it
crosses Ellicott Creek (present day Williamsville, NY) I believe that these
two circles designate the locations of the War of 1812 U.S. Army Headquarters
and the Hospital Cantonment which was just south of the Headquarters. Notice
the mileage scale, the two circles are approximately one mile apart as the
hospital was said to be a mile up the creek.
War of 1812 References to the Hospital and Huts at Williamsville
During the winter of 1812, General Alexander Smyth retired
his army to winter quarters in Williamsville, NY. Down the Garrison Road,
just south of Lehn Springs, a series of huts were built for the troops and
there the army was quartered until the spring of the following year. The huts
would later be used as a hospital.There is some confusion on where the regular
Army wintered in WNY over the winter of 1812-13. Although the Army remained
in Buffalo at Flint Hill until the beginning of December 1812 they then retired
to Williamsville. There is no record of any huts being built at Flint Hill
and it would have been unlikely that soldiers during a Buffalo winter would
have been forced to live in tents.
The following letters also confirm the Army was quartered
in Williamsville;
Documentary History of the Campaign upon the Niagara Frontier
part V; Cruikshank Pg. 19 letter dated December 12, 1812 Lt. Patrick McDonough
to his parents
"We are now encamped in the woods, building huts which we expect to get
into by the middle of next month. It is rather late in the season to be in
tents. We have a very handsome situation on Eleven Mile Creek. The place is
called after its owner Colonel Williams of New York. I hear he contemplated
building his house next spring on the very ground on which we are building,
and desired that not a piece of timber should be cut, as he wished it entirely
shaded, but I can promise him that by that time there will not be a sapling
standing within a mile of it. We marched from Black rock to this place on
the 11th inst. "
From "Documentary History of the Campaign upon the Niagara Frontier"
part IV; Cruikshank Pg. 323-324 letter dated December 16, 1812 General Smyth
to Governor Tompkins
Williamsville 16th Dec 1812
Slr I understand that Mills the person you sent to instruct cavalry has gone
over to the British at Schlosser He took in company the keeper of a public
house there and a dragoon The conduct of this man at Black Rock from the 28th
Nov to the 1st Dec was suspicious Nothing but my great respect for Your Excellency
could have induced me to give an order recognizing him as an instructor a
man in whose looks and demeanor the villain was so plainly visible I now mention
this as affording a ground for being cautious in sending strangers to situations
where they have the most complete opportunities to see our force and learn
our intentions
Tompkins Papers Vol VIII pp 302 3 New York State Library
Pg. 341 From Poulson's American Daily Advertiser of Philadelphia - January
1813
Captain McKeon of the US Artillery arrived in New York on Tuesday last from
the lines. He informs us that he left the Army in comfortable winter quarters
at Eleven Mile River. (Eleven Mile Creek, Williamsville)
Pg. 341 letter dated January 6, 1813 Baptist Irvine to General
Porter
"So petty is the force we have in Buffalo that to anything like an army
it is only a picket guard. Two hundred men might destroy everything here if
they surprised us. Many, if not all, agree that it was wrong to place the
regulars so far off as Eleven Mile Creek, where they could afford us no assistance
in case of attack."
Books and Papers Referencing the Hospital and Huts at
Williamsville;
From "The Early Firm of Juba Storrs & Co."; Rev. Albert Bigelow
The declaration of war at once brought business to the young firm especially
at Williamsville. They made a contract with the government for all the mill
products they could furnish, for the army, and had work enough to do. There
were no other mills nearer than Niagara Falls, except, as Lucius Storrs with
somewhat poetic license was wont to say, one that wasn't bigger than a coffee
mill. Then, in the winter of 1812-1813, barracks and a hospital were established
about a mile from Williamsville up the creek, by cutting down trees and building
huts in the woods. Before these were built, one regiment of troops were cantoned
in front of Williams house; afterwards another behind the house, down the
creek. On the bank of the creek was a beautiful grove, and the engineers asked
permission to cut down trees, to build barracks with. But this Mr. Caryl refused
as unnecessary destruction. They replied, however, that his refusal made no
difference - their asking was a mere matter of courtesy - and so they went
to work in spite of his refusal, and cut down the trees. Before the barracks
were built, a temporary hospital had been established. In the tavern, Gen
Brown and Gen Ripley and a British officer were sick, and the men were taken
care of in the houses of the little village. And the saw mill of Juba Storrs
& Co. furnished the lumber of which the boats were built that carried
the troops across the river.
Thus on account of the mills and hospital, Williamsville was
an important point in the war, and large rewards were offered to the Indians
by the British for the burning of them. But they were afraid of being intercepted
and cut off, so never attempted to burn them.
The troops used these quarters until about April 1813 when they joined the
battle force attacking York (Toronto) on April 27, 1813. The huts were pretty
much abandoned until October 1813 when it was decided to use the cabins as
a winter hospital. The U.S. Army Medical department describes the attack at
York and the casualties as follows;
US ARMY MEDICAL DEPARTMENT Office of Medical History
On the twenty-seventh of April the attack on Little York took place, and after
four days occupation of the town, the army with the wounded and sick was moved
to Fort Niagara, where a tent hospital was organized two miles from the river.
The ground was wet and low, and many of the wounded died from camp diarrhea
and typhus fever, and in June, after the capture of Fort George, a general
hospital was established at Lewistown, eight miles up the river, by advice
of Surgeon Mann, Medical Director. This hospital consisted of two barns, besides
a large number of hospital tents, and was well supplied with everything necessary
for the comfort of the sick and wounded; which by the first of August had
increased to nearly seven hundred. Here the patients improved very rapidly,
the position of the hospital being salubrious, the tents policed with great
care, and the diet being generous. In the army at Fort George, however, a
most lamentable degree of sickness prevailed.
Confusion exists concerning the nature of the medical facilities in the Fort
Niagara-Fort George area. Dr. Mann described a tent hospital located two miles
east of Fort Niagara where the wounded from the attack on Toronto were cared
for beginning on 8 May 1813 and also noted that about two hundred wounded
were moved from Fort Niagara to Lewiston in mid-June 1813.
There was also a general hospital at Fort George, which was taken from the
British in late May 1813 and held for several months. In June, some of the
patients at Fort George were also moved to the higher, healthier facility
at Lewiston. By August, however, more than one-third of the men still there
were sick and, with half the medical staff too ill to work, only three surgeons
and four mates were available to care for six hundred to seven hundred patients.
Hospital stores were running short by September when Mann decided to move
the general hospital from Fort George to a site near Buffalo and to send all
100 invalids ready for discharge with a surgeon's mate from Fort George to
Greenbush.
During the last weeks of October 1813, it was decided to remove the sick and
wounded from Lewiston because of the approaching winter and the dangerous
situation. Two hundred and fifty men were transported to Fort Schlossler (Niagara
Falls) from where they were taken up river by boat to Black Rock, then to
Williamsville by wagon. There, the barracks which had been erected by Smyth's
army was improved and used as a hospital, six patients to each cabin. Dr.
James Mann was appointed surgeon in charge, later to be succeeded by Dr. Whitridge.
Having settled his patients in Williamsville's wholesome accommodations, Mann
set out to join General Wilkinson at his winter camp at Malone, leaving surgeon's
mate Joshua Whitridge, a physician whose "services cannot be too highly
appreciated," in charge.
From "Medical sketches of the campaigns of 1812, 13, 14"; James
Mann
At Williamsville, the barracks which the preceding winter had
been occupied by General Smythe's Division, were put into a comfortable state
of repair, and improved during this winter as hospitals. These quarters were
very extensive, and were, by much labor, rendered commodious for the number
who composed this detachments of sick and convalescents. The wards were made
warm; this was more important, as the men were destitute of clothing. The
wards were not crowded, consequently were less liable to become infectious.
Six patients only were placed in a room, wherefore it required but little
labor and attention to preserve them in a state of cleanliness. This part
of the duty the soldiers were, at all times, obliged punctually to execute.
Those regulations which had respect to cleanliness were always scrupulously
enforced within the hospitals under my direction.
At Williamsville before three weeks had expired, fifty of the
convalescents were reported fit for duty, and were ordered to Fort Niagara.
The barbarous deaths of most of these men, with the rest of the ill fated
garrison, we have to lament, while emotions of just indignation irresistibly
obtrude themselves, when reflecting upon the manner. Surprised and taken without
resistance, most of the garrisons were deliberately murdered by the bayonet,
after surrender.
Having deposed of the sick in quarters for winter, in conformity
to the orders received from General Wilkinson, and finding their number daily
decreasing; my services at Williamsville were believed to be no longer absolutely
necessary. It became my duty, as it was my inclination, to pursue the army
of General Wilkinson by land to Sackets Harbor, where information might be
obtained to what point from Grenadier Island it had directed its course.
Permission was received from General Harrison, who had but just
arrived from Detroit, and on whom the command of the post devolved, to leave
the Niagara Frontier, and join the division of General Wilkinson. The charge
of the hospital at Williamsville was resigned to Doctor Whiteridge, who, for
assiduous attention to duty, was exceeded by no physician of the army.
The last week of November, I departed the Niagara Frontier,
to follow the division of General Wilkinson.
Recorded Deaths at the Hospital at Williamsville;
Deaths at Williamsville from "A War of 1812 Death Register"
Jack Bilow
Deaths 1812 - Oct - 1, Nov - 4, Dec -8 (total - 11)
Deaths 1813 - Jan - 9, Feb - 3, Mar - 4, Apr - 2, May - 0, Jun - 1, July -
0, Aug - 0, Sep - 1, Oct - 0, Nov - 2, Dec - 4 (total - 25)
Deaths at Williamsville 1814 - Jan - 11, Feb - 4, Mar - 11, Apr - 5, May -
8, Jun - 1, July - 2, (total - 42)
During the first half of 1814 there were a total of forty two deaths listed
at Williamsville. But after the battles of Chippewa, Lundy's Lane and Fort
Erie the number of wounded and sick became immense.
Deaths at Williamsville from "A War of 1812 Death Register"
Jack Bilow
Deaths at Williamsville 1814 Aug - 40, Sep - 75, Oct - 69, Nov - 36, Dec -
44 (total - 264)
Deaths at Williamsville 1815 Jan - 49, Feb - 28, Mar - 7, Apr - 3, May - 2,
Jun - 4, Jul - 1, Oct - 1 (total - 95)
Other deaths no dates 27, (total 464)
Pgs. 50, 55, 56 "While Washington Burned: The Battle of Fort Erie
1814", Whitehorne
Before the invasion, General Scott had periodically visited all the various
regimental hospitals, warning the physicians that the campaign would bring
busy times for them. 1
1. LC, Amasa Troubridge Papers, ibid
His predictions were all too accurate. These field hospitals were supported
by an existing hospital system. By 1814, general hospitals already were established
in Burlington, Vermont, Plattsburgh, Malone and Greenbush, New York. The threat
to facilities at Fort Schlosser convinced General Brown in late July to erect
a permanent general hospital at Williamsville, about 12 miles east of Buffalo.
Williamsville was the headquarters of the 5th Brigade of the New York State
Militia. It had been used by the Army ever since General Smyth had established
winter quarters there in 1812. At that time, log barracks were built along
the south side of the village's Main Street between Ellicott Creek and the
Garrison Road. These barracks were converted into temporary medical facilities
in October 1813. Patients from Lewiston were transported by boat to Fort Schlosser,
then overland. Those capable of the trip were then sent to convalesce at the
Greenbush hospital near Albany. The Buffalo area hospital was commanded by
Dr. James Mann and Surgeons Mate Joshua B Whiteridge. 2
2. Robert W Bingham "The History of Williamsville"
Niagara Frontier Miscellany xxxv, (Buffalo Historical Society, 1947): pp.
100-101; Carolyn Shrauger, et al, Williamsville NY Where the past is Present
(Village of Williamsville Historical Society, 1985) p 14.
The site for the new (General) hospital was selected on 29 July (1814) on
the recommendation of senior surgeon, Doctor Ezekiah Bull. Thus, 90 acres
and the stables of Raphael Cook's farm were leased for the construction of
a general hospital. Ironically, the contract specified "no burying place
in the premises" Despite this, a well kept series of mass graves along
Aero Drive remain as the last vestiges of this hospital. These further provide
evidence that having a burying ground adjacent to a medical facility was an
accepted practice. The Williamsville Cemetery contains the remains of both
US and British personnel. The British remains are in their own grave on one
edge of the plot. The segregation of enemy and friendly dead has been a tacit,
if not official, practice on both sides. The Williamsville facility was designated
a general hospital in August, and Surgeon's Mate Joseph Lovell was assigned
to its command. He was succeeded in 1815 by Doctor William Thomas. 3
3. National Archives, Record Group 94 Entry 407, Box 90,
Hogan Vouchers.
As soon as General Brown decided to concentrate patients at Williamsville,
a vigorous building project was begun. At first, a large tent city was erected
as indicated by the use of 3,000 board feet of timber for flooring 100 hospital
tents and 12 loads of hay for bed ticking. Each tent could hold 16 to 18 men.
In early September, General Brown, once more in command, embarked on his extensive
effort to shelter the troops at Fort Erie.
Additional amounts of timber were sent across the Niagara to make tent flooring.
Likewise, canvas was delivered for use by the besieged troops. Brown directed
that the wounded be moved into permanent buildings so that every tent possible
would be available for troops in the field. Captain John Larkin was named
supervisory quartermaster for the construction of the Williamsville Hospital.
He brought in skilled workmen from as far away as Rochester and Utica. Huge
quantities of locally produced brick were purchased in Buffalo and hauled
to Williamsville to help construct the hospital barracks. Subsequent purchases
of glass and shingles to complete the buildings substantiate the permanent
nature of the structures. Patients, among them Generals Scott and Riall, began
being moved to the Williamsville site on 30 July.4
4. National Archives, Record Group 94 Entry 125, Box134 Vouchers;
Percy M Ashburn, "American Army Hospitals of the Revolution and the War
of 1812" Bulletin of John Hopkins Hospital 46, pg 32
An additional general hospital was opened in Buffalo in July to accommodate
the surge of wounded from the Battle of Chippewa. This was located at Sandy
Town (The Front) 400 yards from Buffalo Creek. The wounded were brought to
the site by boat then carried by litter the last few hundred yards. By 1 August,
it held nearly 1,100 patients. The British raid on 3 August a few miles north
at Scajaquada Creek demonstrated the hospital's vulnerability. Consequently,
as many men as possible were removed to the growing Williamsville facility.
Doctor Bull and Surgeons Mates Thomas and Lovell supervised the Williamsville
facility. Surgeons Mate William E Horner remained at Buffalo caring for the
small number of patients who could not be moved. Thereafter, the Buffalo Hospital
served as the clearing center for casualties from Fort Erie sending patients
to Williamsville as quickly as it could. Those who died there were buried
in an adjacent graveyard, identified only years later when human remains were
discovered.5
5 Percy M Ashburn, "History of the Medical Department
of the United States Army" (1929) pp. 33-34. Severance, ibid, p 247;
Several smaller regimental hospitals in the Buffalo and Black Rock areas had
come in with their units. Despite their regimental affiliation, they supported
all troops sent to the area. Buildings were leased to house these facilities.
In addition, rooms in private houses were rented for the use of convalescent
officers. Beginning in October, the sick and wounded at Williamsville who
could travel were sent in a series of convoys to the hospital at Greenbush.
Beginning on 8 November, everyone possible was moved to Williamsville. Most
officers and about 80 critical patients remained in private houses around
Buffalo. The unprecedented casualty rate experienced throughout the campaign
combined with that of Plattsburgh and elsewhere to place heavy demands on
the medical supply system.
Apothecary General Francis LeBaron at Albany advised his superiors in Philadelphia
that the Williamsville Hospital "devoured" reserve stocks "like
cormorants" so that by November nothing was left on hand.6
6. See annex K National Archives, Record Group 94 Entry 125,
Box 134; RG 94, Entry 225, Box 651, Medical Department, Francis LeBaron letter
14 November 1814 to Callender Irvine.
US ARMY MEDICAL DEPARTMENT Office of Medical History
In 1814, the hospital at Williamsville, New York, did not occupy the same
quarters it had used the previous year, and patients were sheltered in tents
while awaiting the completion of buildings designed specifically for use as
a hospital. Progress on the construction was extremely slow, however, and
General Izard wrote that "the jealousy and quarrels between surgeons
and the Quartermaster's department of General Brown's division" were
to blame. In early November 1814, the new building was still "far from
ready for the reception of the sick and wounded."7
7 Major General Izard to Secretary of War, 8 Nov 1814, Cruikshank,
Documents, 4: 298.
Some of the construction may have been complete by 26 November, for General
Izard referred to the Williamsville facilities at that time as an "extensive
hospital establishment," but in early November, because of the inadequacies
of the facility, General Izard, following a suggestion from the hospital's
senior surgeon, ordered that as many as could tolerate the journey be sent
on to Greenbush. Nevertheless, almost two thousand patients were in such poor
condition that they had to remain behind in the tents at Williamsville.7
7 Quote from Major General Izard to Secretary of War, 26
Nov 1814, Izard, Correspondence, p. 121; Major General Izard to Secretary
of War, 8 Nov 1814, Cruikshank, Documents, 4: 298.
There was, for a time, also a hospital set up at Buffalo in 1814 in the tents
left behind when camp there was broken. The Americans wounded in July's battle
at Chippewa and some of the enemy wounded, probably those from the Battle
of Lundy's Lane, were sent to Buffalo. Among the British patients were some
so badly burned in the explosion of a powder magazine that their "faces
and hands were so crisped that the skin peeled off like a baked pig."
Among a number of American wounded who were rowed up the Niagara River in
a flat-bottomed boat to Buffalo was General Scott himself. Only those in the
poorest condition were retained at Buffalo for any length of time, however,
and although some difficulties were experienced in obtaining transportation,
all but eighty to ninety men too seriously injured to be moved were sent eastward,
apparently within a few weeks, to the facility at Williamsville. The Buffalo
facility was closed on 23 December 1814.8
8 Quote from Eber D. Howe, "Recollections of a Pioneer
Printer," Buffalo Historical Society Publications 9 (1906): 398; Clayton
Tiffin to Major General Izard, 6 Dec 1814, RG 94, M566, roll 59; Scott, Memoirs,
1: 147, 148; Report of Hospital Surgeon Lovell, 1 Aug 1814, Cruikshank, Documents,
4: 452-53; Louis L. Babcock, The Siege of Fort Erie, An Episode of the War
of 1812 (Buffalo: Peter Paul Book Co., 1899), p. 44n; W. E. Horner, "Surgical
Sketches," Medical Examiner and Record of Medical Science, new ser. 8
(1952): 761, 764, 768, 791; Jacob Brown to Secretary of War, 6 Jul 1814, in
Herman Allen Fay, Collection of the Official Accounts, in Detail, of All the
Battles Fought by Sea and Land Between the Navy and Army of the United States
and the Navy and Army of Great Britain During the Years 1812, 13, 14, &
15 (New York, 1817), p. 210.
Because of the casual nature of some of the reports which survive from the
time of the War of 1812, it is difficult to be sure of the nature of all of
the hospitals serving the Army during that time. The Tilton report of 20 August
1814, for example, mentioned a return from a hospital surgeon, E. W. Bull,
concerning the sick and wounded from Chippewa. It did not, however, make clear
whether Bull was referring to men who became incapacitated during the battle
of that name or to men hospitalized at some facility or facilities at or near
Chippewa. If the former is true, however, the figures furnished Tilton by
Bull (approximately 900 wounded, 300 sick) are, as Tilton commented, surprisingly
high and probably included, as the Physician and Surgeon General commented,
British casualties. It is difficult to believe that 300 men would fall ill
as a result of one battle, and therefore it is likely that the reference was
to the number of patients at a hospital. There is no record of a general hospital
at Chippewa, however, but since the reporting physician was a hospital surgeon
rather than a regimental surgeon, it is reasonable to assume that the Chippewa
facility was a flying hospital.9
9 James Tilton to Secretary of War, 20 Aug 1814, RG 107,
M221, roll 66; Major General Jacob Brown reported that 249 were wounded at
the Battle of Chippewa ("Report of the Killed and Wounded of the Left
Division Commanded by Major General Brown in the Action of 5th July 1814,
on the Plains of Chippewa, Upper Canada," Brannan, Letters, p. 372).
Patients at Fort Erie, which was taken from the British in July, were cared
for by regimental surgeons who received high praise in the summer of 1814.
The men there suffered from the high rate of illness which was to be expected
in the area, but by early August, they were in better health than had been
expected. Not long thereafter, however, the British began an unsuccessful
five-week siege of Fort Erie, during which a strongpoint blew up just as the
British were about to take possession of it. The wounded left behind by the
British, their faces, in some cases, "so fearfully disfigured, that the
sight of them was sickening," were carried to the American hospital.
The care two surgeons and three mates gave the men entrusted to them at Fort
Erie10 led the commanding general to comment upon their "active, humane,
and judicious treatment of the wounded, both of the enemy and of our own."11
10 Effner, "Adventures," pp. 51-52, quote from
p. 52; E. P. Gaines to Secretary of War, 7 and 23 Aug 1814, Brannan, Letters,
pp. 384, 399; Mann, Sketches, pp. 70, 111.
11 E. W. Ripley to Brigadier General Gaines, 17 Aug 1814,
Brannan, Letters, p. 392.
From Niagara Frontier #12 1965 pgs 51-57 "Jacob Porter
Norton, A Yankee on the Niagara Frontier"
Jacob Norton was a young Lieutenant assigned to the 4th Infantry Regiment
during the War of 1812. During his time of service he wrote letters home to
his father and kept a diary of his activity.
Among his entries in his diary are;
November 14th 1814 "The 4th Regt marched from our encampment near Buffalo,
and took quarters in the Hospital Barracks, at eleven mile Creek in Williamsville,
11 miles from Buffalo."
June 1815, while writing his thoughts about fellow officers he had this to
say about Lt Col Ranney; "The army burying ground at this place when
we first came, was in a miserable situation,- Many of the graves were not
more than half filled, and they had been dug promiscuously without regard
to order, so that it was difficult in some places to distinguish the graves.
Lt Col Ranney had them mounded up and clotted with sard, the stumps dug up,
a fence built round it, a gate with an arch over the way, upon the arch was
inscribed" - "Sacred to the memory of those men who died of wounds
received in the memorable fields of Chippewa, Bridgewater and Erie, - They
rest in honor and deserve the gratitude of their country"
On June 14th 1815 the 4th Infantry Regt marched out of Williamsville beginning
their journey home.
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