Battle of Malcolm's Mills

In October 1814, the American force of about 700 mounted riflemen under Brigadier General Duncan McArthur advanced rapidly as they left Detroit and raided the Thames Valley. The plan was to devastate the Grand River settlements and the region around the head of Lake Ontario which supplied flour to the British forces on the Niagara frontier. When the raid was launched, the British Army had just raised the Siege of Fort Erie on the Niagara River at the eastern end of the Niagara peninsula, and an American army under Major General George Izard was beginning a cautious advance from Fort Erie.

McArthur was delayed for two days in crossing the swollen Thames, but his force subsequently moved so rapidly that they reached the weak British post at Delaware on October 30 before any warning of their approach was received.[1] McArthur maintained his rapid pace partly by leaving exhausted horses wherever fresh horses could be commandeered from Canadian farms or settlements.

Major Adam Muir, the local British commander, ordered the Norfolk Militia to assemble, first at Culver's Tavern in Woodhouse township, then in Burford. McArthur arrived at Oxford on November 4, where his men ransacked the village in search of forage and provisions. He learned that the militia were assembling at Burford and warned the inhabitants of Oxford that the property of anyone who warned them would be destroyed. Two men nevertheless alerted the militia under Bostwick, they were betrayed and their dwellings were duly razed.[2]

Bostwick, having been warned, retired to Malcolm's Mills. He was joined by Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Ryerson and Major George Salmon with further members of the Nolfolk Militla. Major Muir had gone forward to secure the ford over the Grand River, and enlist warriors of the Six Nations. However, Lieutenant Colonel Parry of the 103rd Regiment, commanding at Burlington had feared for his post and had already summoned most of the warriors there.[2] Bostwick was left with a force of about 400 men, who were discouraged by reports of overwhelming American strength.

On November 5, McArthur advanced to Burford, where there was no opposition, and continued on to Brant's Ford on the Grand River.[3] The ferry had been destroyed, the river was swollen and an unknown number of enemy disputed the crossing. As it was growing dark, McArthur encamped for the night. During the night, he learned that the American army under Major General Izard had called off its advance and was retiring across the Niagara River. As there was no longer any need to make a distraction to assist Izard, McArthur therefore decided against attacking Burlington and instead decided to disperse the militia at Malcolm's Mills before continuing his raid.[4]

Site of the Battle of Malcolm's Mills

The battle at Malcolm's Mill was the last land battle of the War of 1812 fought in Upper Canada.

McArthur's Raid destroyed many of the mills on which the British army on the Niagara depended for flour and bread. Only three mills in the southern part of the Niagara peninsula were spared, either because of the close pursuit, as the British claimed, or through the entreaties of some American officers to spare the district from famine during the coming winter.[5] Although the British commanded Lake Ontario at the time and were able to use their fleet to resupply their army on the Niagara before the lake froze, the region was so badly stripped of resources that the British were unable to mount any operations against Detroit before the end of the war.[6]

Additionally, the Americans killed, wounded or captured and paroled over 450 of their enemy, which was accomplished with only the loss of one killed and six wounded. The raid has also been known as "Dudley's Raid", after the commander of the 550 Kentucky mounted riflemen.[3]

• Anderson Chenault Quisenberry, Kentucky in the War of 1812, first published 1915, Kentucky State Historical Society, Kentucky, USA. Reissued by Genealogical Publishing Co. 1996
• Elting, John R. (1995). Amateurs to Arms:A military history of the War of 1812. New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-80653-3.* Major R. Cuthbertson Muir, The Early Political and Military History of Burford, La Cie D'Imprimerie Commerciale, 1913.
• Stuart A. Rammage, The Militia Stood Alone - Malcolm's Mills, 6 November 1814, Valley Publishing, 2000.
• Zaslow, Morris (ed) The Defended Border, Macmillan of Canada, 1964, ISBN 0-7705-1242-9
• Zig Misiak, Western Hooves of Thunder, McArthurs Raid on the Six Nations, 1814, ISBN 978-0-9811880-3-4, Published 2011, Brantford, Ontario, Canada