Attack
Yeo's squadron embarked the landing force and set out from Kingston late on 3 May. They arrived off Oswego early in the morning, on 5 May. The troops prepared to land shortly after midday, but a southerly breeze sprang up, which made it impossible for Yeo's ships to get close enough to the shore to provide support from their guns. That evening, a storm blew up, forcing the British ships to withdraw for the night.
The British ships returned to Oswego at eleven o'clock the next morning, and the landing proceeded. The landing force consisted of the 2nd battalion of Royal Marines under Lieutenant Colonel James Malcolm, a company of the Glengarry Light Infantry under Captain Alexander MacMillan, a company of the Regiment de Watteville and a detachment of 200 sailors armed with boarding pikes under Captain William Mulcaster. Four more companies of the Regiment de Watteville were in reserve. Lieutenant Colonel Victor Fischer, the commanding officer of the Regiment de Watteville, was in charge of the landing.
Opposed to them was an American force of 242 officers and enlisted men of the 3rd U.S. Regiment of Artillery, 25 sailors of the U.S. Navy and about 200 of the New York Militia, under the command of Major George Mitchell of the 3rd Artillery. The fort was in a state of disrepair, but the delay imposed on the landing had allowed them to shift extra guns to face the lake, with a total of five guns in a battery in the fort: one 9-pounder and four 4 or 6-pounders.
While the two British frigates (HMS Prince Regent and Princess Charlotte) engaged the fort, the guns of six sloops and brigs swept the woods and landing beaches. The British landed at about two o'clock. Almost all the troops landed in deep water and their ammunition was soaked and made useless. Nevertheless, they fixed their bayonets and advanced under heavy fire. While the company of the Glengarry Light Infantry cleared woods to the left of the main attack and the sailors advanced on the village, the main body of the troops made a frontal attack against the fort. American foot soldiers drawn up on the glacis fell back into the fort. As the attackers reached the top of the glacis, the defenders abandoned the fort and fled.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Fort Oswego (1814)
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