Tag Archives: Battle of Crysler’s Farm

Lost Villages of the St. Lawrence River

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January 6, 2024

In July of 1958 nine villages and an inhabited island along the Canadian shoreline of the St. Lawrence River were flooded during the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Moses-Saunders Power Dam. 1,200 acres of reserves belonging to the Mohawks and Akwesane as well as 15,000 acres of traditional hunting grounds were also flooded. The indigenous peoples were not consulted or compensated and only in the last couple of decades has any attempt been made to correct this travesty. 6,500 residents of 6 villages and 3 hamlets were forced off their lands and given market value for their holdings. Unfortunately, the market values were already depressed due to the impending flooding. The lost villages were Aultsville, Dickinson’s Landing, Farran’s Point, Maple Grove, Mille Roches, Moulinette, Santa Cruz, Sheeks Island, Wales and Woodlands. Some of these can be seen in the map below taken from Wikipedia which shows the area prior to the flooding. We have often written about the ghost towns and lost villages of the GTA but this post focusses on some lost villages in Eastern Ontario that I visited on a business trip in September.

58,000 acres were flooded beginning on July 1, 1958 when 27 tonnes of explosives were used to destroy the cofferdam that was used during the construction of the power dam near Cornwall. The image below shows the same area as the one above as it exists following the flooding.

The story of the flooding has its origins as far back as 1871 when the Treaty of Washington made the St. Lawrence River the dividing line between Canada and the USA and allowed for shared use of the river for shipping purposes. In 1895 the Deep Waters Commission was established to explore additional navigation opportunities including the St. Lawrence Seaway. Political issues prevented progress from being made and by 1951 the Canadian Government decided to proceed alone on the construction of the seaway. This got the USA out of their deadlock and in 1952 the Seaway Project was approved by both countries. Construction began on August 19, 1954 resulting in the flooding in 1958. When the lost villages were evacuated the buildings were demolished and some of the bricks and stones were salvaged to be used in the planned memorial. Grave markers were taken up to be relocated in a memorial wall that was built near the site of Upper Canada Village and some of the buildings were moved there.

The Pioneer Memorial is laid out by community with a stone marker indicating each of the towns represented. This image shows the wall for Aultsville and Farran Point.

Woodlands East Protestant Cemetery is represented in the wall pictured below.

Not all of the people buried in the various flooded cemeteries have been represented in the memorial gardens because some stones graves were marked with wooden memorials or stones that were badly broken or deteriorated. One example of a salvaged memorial is seen in the picture below showing the marker for G. C Farran who died on April 3, 1849. They had been born in 1770. Their remains now lie below the St. Lawrence River in one of the flooded towns.

The plaque below is located near the site of the memorial gardens and tells of the building of the walls and gardens. It mentions eight villages but there are nine villages plus the residents of Sheeks Island that are covered in the online histories of the area.

Crysler’s Farm was the site of a battle in the War of 1812. The battle took place on November 11, 1813 and the American forces were defeated but not without losses on both sides. The actual site of the battlefield is now submerged under the St. Lawrence River but it has been memorialized on a new site near Upper Canada Village. We’ve previously written about this battle in our post The Battle of Crysler’s Farm. The image below was taken from the 1877 County Atlas and shows the original battle ground.

The Long Sault Parkway is a 10.1 kilometre drive that connects several islands that were created during the flooding. Along the route homage is paid to many of these lost villages and the drive is said to be very scenic. It’s on our bucket list for a future visit to the area.

Related Stories: The Battle of Crysler’s Farm

Google Maps link: Pioneer Memorial

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Battle of Crysler’s Farm – Nov. 11, 1813

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Nov. 11, 2023

As the second year of the War of 1812 drew to a close the Americans wanted to try to capture Upper Canada by taking Montreal and cutting off supplies to all of the area west of it. US Secretary of War John Armstrong developed a plan to use two armies to converge and take the city. General Wade Hampton was marching from Lake Champlain with his forces and Major General James Wilkinson was ordered to set sail from Sackets Harbor to join him. Wilkinson left Sackets Harbor on October 17, 1813 to sail down the St. Lawrence River to join forces with Hampton. British gunboats under William Mulcaster harassed the American fleet and fired shots at them before heading to Kingston to sound the alarm. Wilkinson became ill and ended up delegating responsibility for the army to Brigadier-General John Parker Boyd.

On November 10th Boyd set up his headquarters at a local tavern and
the British under Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Wanton Morrison were camped just a couple of kilometers away at John Crysler’s farm. Crysler was a wealthy loyalist and the leader of the Dundas Militia. The night was one of sleet and rain and many of the British troops slept outside with no protection from the weather.

On November 11, 1813 the British troops began an attack on the American position but it was unsuccessful and they were driven back. Subsequent American attempts to attack were repulsed as the infantry were overpowered by volleys from the well-trained and practiced muskets of the British 49th and 89th Regiments of Foot, which made up the bulk of Morrison’s army.

In order to attack the Americans were forced to cross two ravines and then navigate a field which was full of split rail fences. The canon in the image above has a date carved on the housing which reads 1800.

Boyd gave contradictory and inconsistent leadership which led to the confusion and lack of discipline among the American infantry. Most of the American soldiers ran out of ammunition and began to retreat before the calvary arrived as a back-up. Meanwhile the British maintained discipline and held their lines to deliver volley after volley of musket fire at the advancing American army. Boyd eventually called a retreat and the American troops fell back to French Mills for the winter. This was the last battle of the year in the war and the Americans had failed to make any serious advance in their efforts to capture British North America. The image below shows a replica 6 pounder muzzle loading gun similar to ones used by both sides during the battle. It could fire a six pound ball for 1200 yards.

The British forces were much smaller but managed to kill 340 men and capture another 100 while losing a little under 200 soldiers of their own. A monument to the battle was erected on Crysler’s Farm in 1895 and a bronze plaque was added in 1923 to commemorate the battle.

In 1958 Crysler’s Farm was flooded during construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway and the monument was moved. Soil from the site of the battle was dug up and used to build a mound on a plot of land near Upper Canada Village. The monument was placed on this new mound of soil and continues to look out over the former battle site, now under water.

In 1959 a small interpretive centre was built to describe the history of the battle and in 2012 a new visitor centre was built. Each year re-enactors come together to commemorate the battle.

Although Remembrance Day is usually considered as respect for those who fought in the First and Second World Wars, it is interesting that it also falls on the anniversary of this pivotal battle from the War of 1812.

This is the fifth installment in our War of 1812 series which may eventually extend to all the Canadian battle sites.

Associated Stories in our War of 1812 series: Battle of York, Battle of Queenston Heights, Battle of Stoney Creek, Battle of Beaver dams.

Google Maps Link: Crysler’s Farm

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