Background
On 25 May 1813, the Americans had won the Battle of Fort George, capturing the fort. The British fell back to a position at Burlington Heights near the western end of Lake Ontario, briefly abandoning the entire Niagara peninsula to the Americans. The Americans attempted to pursue the British, but their advance was checked at the Battle of Stoney Creek by a British counter-attack. At the same time, the American flotilla of warships which had been supporting their army on the Niagara peninsula was hastily withdrawn to face a threat to their own base, and a British flotilla threatened the Americans' line of communications. The Americans fell back to Fort George. The British followed up and established an outpost at DeCou's house in the present-day city of Thorold, Ontario, from which Natives and militia harassed American outposts.
The American commander at Fort George, Brigadier General John Parker Boyd, decided to clear the threat posed by enemy raiders and to restore his men's morale by making a surprise attack on the outpost at DeCou's.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Beaver Dams
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