Picking My Battles: The Battle of Crysler’s Farm

Here is the second post in my Picking My Battles series. In Picking My Battles I am looking at four battles from the War of 1812 and choosing one to model my armies, terrain and initial scenario against.

November 11th is not just the Commonwealth’s Remembrance Day and the day in 1918 when the German’s signed the Armistice and ended WWI. Over 100 years earlier British regulars and Canadian militia fought a larger force of Americans invaders along the banks of the St. Lawrence River, defeating them and effectively ending the American campaign of 1813.

Unlike Queenston Heights I’ve only just started studying this battle and cannot easily remember the timeline, units or rough numbers involved, so if I make any errors in my synopsis I apologize. Of all the major battles of 1812 this one is the closest to home, being an hour southwest between Long Sault and Morrisburg. The battlefield was tragically lost during an expansion of the St. Lawrence Seaway in the 50s though a memorial stands near the flooded battlefield.

At the most basic level the battle was a straightforward set-piece affair. The Americans had been travelling along the river with the intention of attacking Montreal. A force of British and Canadians shadowed and harassed them. The day before the battle the British had made contact with the American rearguard. The Americans had all the advantages but chose to retire from the area known as Crysler’s Farm, leaving the British on an open, defensible piece of real-estate.

Central section of “Climax of the Action at Crysler’s Farm,” mural by Adam Sherriff Scott at the Battle of Crysler’s Farm Visitor Center, Crysler Park. Copyright unknown.

The next morning the American commander, sick and unable to leave his ship, ordered one of his brigade commanders that “should the enemy harrass the read, turn and beat him back.” This was intended as an order to form a rear-guard, but Brigadier General John Boyd, didn’t interpret the order as such. He’d been receiving contradictory orders from two incapacitated officers all morning. Instead Boyd moved his command to attack an enemy of well-drilled and lead British Regulars in an open field chosen by the British commander, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Morrison, for it’s defensive features.

The battle was a hard fought engagement between two forces across an open field. Generally the better training and leadership of the British dominated the battle, though there were a couple of occasions where the result was in doubt. Eventually the Americans retired, leaving the field to the victorious British.

What was accomplished by this battle isn’t exactly clear. The American invasion was so ill-fated that it could be argued that without Morrison’s harassment of the American force Major General James Wilkinson would still have called off the invasion. Undoubtedly the inability to drive off their British shadow weakened the American resolve to continue. Having to hold off Morrison while investing Montreal would have been extremely difficult if not impossible. The battle is one of the largest open-field affairs to this point in the war and clearly demonstrates the superiority of the British army in such a battle at this stage of the war.

Pros:

An open field battle in which the British clearly defeat the Americans. As a Canadian who is unabashedly biased what isn’t there to like about this battle. It’s also one of the closest to my home in Ottawa. If I meet my ambitious goals I would have no doubt that there are some people in the area that would dearly love to play this scenario.

Although an open-field battle between line infantry there was some interesting maneuvers and back-and-forth between the two sides.

The plowed fields and woods would be easy enough to model. The thought of creating gullies and ravines is something I relish.

Cons:

One of the British battalions wore their great coats due to inclement weather. It would bother me if I didn’t model this in my scenario, however my planned suppliers of miniatures do not provide British line infantry in greatcoats, or if they do, not in numbers I could use. The alternative is to convert the entire unit, extra work for an already ambitious wargames project.

I would have to paint nearly three times as many American troops as British for this scenario. Since the Americans are being painted as opponents to “my” British troops this doesn’t make me particularly excited.

How I Would Do It:

Although by 1813 the Americans still lagged behind the British both in training and quality of leadership the American forces so outnumbered the British at Crysler’s Farm the ending is not inevitable. While I’d still rather have all players controlling competent forces this would not prevent me from playing this scenario.

The biggest stumbling block is the 49th Foot and their practical grey greatcoats. I haven’t decided on figure ratios but 1:5 or 1:10 seems likely. This means 30-60 miniatures requiring conversion. Adding a greatcoat isn’t the worst conversion ever and would give me excuse to remove the packs that wouldn’t have been worn into battle, it would significantly add to the time required for the project. Another option is to convert some of Victrix Limited’s 54mm Napoleonics to greatcoats and display them whenever I’m trying to stress historical accuracy. This would say – this is what the troops would have been wearing, even though the miniatures aren’t available in 28mm scale. I don’t know if that would quiet my conscience on this.

Otherwise the battle is straightforward while including some interesting terrain and giving the opportunity for both sides to maneuver their units instead of simply slugging it out, like portions of Queenston Heights. By the way, I’ve answered my 6mm-28mm question: 6mm will be a later project.

Next time, Battle of Chippawa.

Tyler