The Battle of Queenston Heights "The blow must be struck soon or all the toil and expense of the campaign will go for nothing and... it would be tinged with dishonor." Stephen Van Rensselaer Further Reading An Overview of the Battle of Queenston Heights British Background to the Battle of Queenston Heights American Background to the Battle of Queenston Heights The British at Queenston Heights Brock at Queenston Heights The Iroquois at Queenston Heights Winfield Scott, American Officer

The Americans at Queenston Heights It isn't not only the American wounded who are returning in the boats. Some troops have hidden near the Canadian shore, waiting to catch a ride back across. Many more U.S. troops are simply hiding in the woods waiting for the conflict to end. Winfield Scott is outraged but is soon distracted by a more pressing concern: Iroquois warriors. Using the woods for cover, the Iroquois mount a seemingly never-ending series of charges on the American position on the Heights. Their battle tactics keep the Americans scrambling and their war cries rattle the inexperienced soldiers. These cries carry back across the river to the already unenthusiastic militia. Seeing injured comrades swimming desperately towards the American side, and imagining their fate at the hands of native warriors, the remaining militia announce that they are staying put. They had signed up to defend the United States, not to fight on foreign soil. Their commanders beg and berate them, but to no avail. Scott realizes that he can expect no more support from across the river. He is now down to a few hundred men. British reinforcements, under Major General Roger Sheaffe, soon arrive from Fort George. They bypass Queenston, climb the escarpment, out of range of the American guns and take up position opposite Scott's force. The U.S. troops can not stop this advance; they have their hands full with the Iroquois charges. Stuck between the cliffs and the advancing British, the Americans attempt a strategic withdrawal. This soon becomes an all-out rout. In the words of one U.S. major, "the mountains seemed to shake beneath the stride of death." The British and Iroquois overtake the American forces trapped by the riverbank. The Americans twice raise a white flag of surrender but the battle rages on, led by the heated Iroquois warriors. Fearing a massacre, Winfield Scott wades through the chaos and surrenders formally to British Major General Sheaffe, who orders an end to the fighting. Over 900 Americans are taken prisoner, half of whom are found hiding in the woods. Hundreds of others are wounded or killed. The quickly-approaching winter puts a stop to any further attempts to invade Canada across the Niagara. Major General Van Rensselaer resigns from his post, with the following reasons: "My extreme mortification at surrendering a victory which had been gallantly won and which I had ample force to have retained, and my disgust at the cause which changed triumph into defeat."