The Battle of Big Sandy

 and the Big Cable Carry  

The Twentieth century would call it an arms race.  In 1814 the United States and Great Britain were locked in a race to see who be able to build the biggest ships to dominate the Great Lakes.  Eventually Britain would win that race by building a huge ship-of-the-line, the size of Nelson's flag ship. the HMS Victory--so large that it required a crew of 700 seamen to man her. But in the meantime the war had stalemated and the diplomats had hammered out a peace agreement to go into effect on January 1, 1815.  In the spring of 1814, however, shipbuilding was continuing at a furious pace.  The United States was at a disadvantage because all her naval stores--cordage, cannon, sails, etc. had to be brought up the Hudson, portaged around the Cohoes Falls to the navigable part of the Mohawk, portaged to Woods Creek and taken by batteaux to Oneida Lake were it would be taken up the Oswego river to Fort Oswego and then, under the eyes of the British, be taken along Lake Ontario to Sackett's Harbor where the warships were under construction. The British, on the other hand, could bring any supplies not produced locally, all the way to Montreal, under sail, transferring them to batteaux for portage or passage over the rapids, and on to their shipyard at Kingston, (now, Ontario), near the foot of the lake.

 In April 1814. British General James Yeo learned of a large shipment of critical naval supplies arriving at Oswego. On May 5th he approached  Ontario with a fleet of six ships and  more than 1150 men.  Before he could make his landing a storm blew up and he was forced to postpone the assault to the next day. This gave time for  Colonel George Mitchell to bring more of the fort's guns to bear on the attacking ships, and more importantly, hide most of the vital stores up river at Oswego Falls (now Fulton, NY).

 

Felling trees across the road, and ripping up bridges along the way Colonel Mitchell did what he could to insure the British would have a difficult time reaching the ship stores and removing them. On the morning of May 6 th Yeo attacked and successfully drove the some 465 defending Americans from the fort.  From the Fort and harbor he captured a large number of provisions and the schooner Growler.  The Americans had attempted to scuttle the Growler but British crews were able to successfully re-float her.* After pursuing the fleeing Americans a few miles inland, General Yeo returned to his ships, betting on the likelihood that the Americans would have to transport the cannon and heavy ships cables by water and that he could intercept their batteaux or small boats when they attempted to sail from Oswego to Sackett's Harbor.

At the end of April American Lieutenant Melancthon Woolsey was dispatched from Sackett's Harbor to bring the supplies up from Oswego. After the defeat at Fort Oswego, to throw the British off guard he advertised widely among area farmers for heavy wagons and teams of oxen to carry the stores back to the safety of Oneida Lake. He also commissioned the building of several sets of large wheels for the transport of the cannon. The weather turned bad and on the night of May 28th Lt. Woolsey commanded the nineteen "Schenectady boat" batteaux, loaded with the cannon and stores back down, over the Oswego river rapids, back to Oswego.  There under the cover of darkness and foul weather he began to make his way silently northward to Sackett's Harbor.  But then one of the batteaux became separated from the others and fell into the hands of the British.  (Later, there would be suspicions that this batteau piloted by a Mr. Curley intentionally fell away from the others and was handed over to the British.) General Yeo dispatched a force of three cutters, a gig and three gunboats to intercept the Americans.  They found them off the mouth of the Big Sandy Creek, about sixteen miles from Sackett's Harbor. The Americans retreated up the Big Sandy as far as they could go, and  the next day the British followed. But unbeknownst to the force of 150-200 British seamen and  Royal Marines pursuing them, a force of 150 American riflemen under the command of Captain Daniel Appling had been assigned to accompany the batteaux and another force of 120 to 130 Oneida Indians, who were the American's allies, had been shadowing the batteaux from on shore. In a copse of  trees that covered both shores at a sharp bend in the stream, the riflemen and their Indian friends set their ambush. Behind them, at the batteaux, and further back were perhaps 200 militiamen called from their homes that morning.

Big Sandy Creek, near the Batteaux anchorage

As the British advanced they fired their cannon into likely ambush sites along the sides of the creek, hoping to intimidate and scatter any contingents of militiamen who might have been assembled to defend the trapped batteaux.  In the bow of one of the gunboats was a massive "bug gun," capable of firing a 64 pd. projectile, (probably a howitzer or carronade, used like a shotgun.) As they approached the copse of trees, its gunner began to pour a bag of musket balls into its mouth in preparation for firing into the willows. Captain Appling fired at the gunner and in an instant over two hundred and fifty

A short barreled Carronade at Sackett's Harbor Battlefield

rifles and muskets joined his.

 In less than ten minutes it was over.  Thirteen British sailors and marines lay dead, some thirty were wounded and all the rest were captives. Several who had tried to escape were brought down by the Oneidas. There would be no one to report back to General Yeo.


 




The McKee House was the nearest house to the 
battlefield. The McKees fled when British round 
shot began falling around their house. They 
returned to find their parlor filled with British 
wounded. The Otis' lived nearby. Their house 
was also used to shelter the wounded. They 
returned to find virtually every stitch of cloth 
in their house had been appropriated for band-
ages. They were finally partially compensated 
by the US Government in the mid 1850's.
By 1972 the McKee house was in a derelict
condition and was torn down, but its marker
remains.

Yeo's fleet, however, remained stationed off of the Galoo Islands, a short distance from shore, blocking the passage to Sackett's Harbor.  Fortunately, the arrangements made for the diversion were already in place and in a few days the wagons and teams of oxen could be summoned along with the sets of big wheels for the biggest guns. Via a network of back roads soon a caravan of cannon ( 21-- long 32 pd., 10 --24 pd., 3 --42pd. carronades and 8 cables ) was on its way to Sackett's Harbor.

But a single cable remained--a monster  9600 lb., 594 foot 6" or 7" diameter cable, probably intended as the anchor hawser for the frigate Superior.  It was too heavy to be carried by any one wagon. A militiaman had a suggestion: could the men carry the cable?  A cart was loaded with as much of the cable as it could safely carry, and the rest trailed behind.  Eighty four of Appling's riflemen and militiamen from the two supporting companies hoisted the cable in unison on to their shoulders and they were on their way along a twenty mile route that led to Sackett's Harbor.  About an equal number of riflemen, militiamen and farmers encountered enroute followed along, ready to relieve the carriers.
Shoulders  were bruised and  rubbed raw under a burden that was estimated to be about 100 lbs. for each man. Veterans of the carry reported they were unable to use their arms for about a week, afterwards.  On the second day they entered Sackett's Harbor accompanied by the cheers of onlookers and the strains of martial music.  A barrel of whiskey was rolled out for the cable carriers and each man was rewarded with an additional $ 2.00.

Soon the brigs Jefferson and Jones, awaiting their armaments at Sackett's Harbor would be ready to sail and they would be joined by the frigate Superior, fitted out with the cordage and cannon brought from Oswego.  They would dominate Lake Ontario until the end of the war.**





*Few ships have had a more checkered career than the schooner Growler. Bought as the schooner Experiment by the Navy from private owners in 1812, she was renamed the Growler and refitted as a warship with 4 - 4 pd cannon and 1 32 pd long gun at Sackett's Harbor. She was captured on 8/10/13 and renamed the Hamilton by the British.  Less than two months later she was captured by the USS Sylph and became the Growler, again. She was captured again by the British in the Battle of Oswego and finished the war as the Hamilton, in British service.

**Most of the available historical documentation has been brought together in Bettinger, Blaine T. "An Analysis of the Events Surrounding the Battle of Big Sandy and the Carrying of the Great Rope in 1814 and the Ensuing 185 Years." www.thegeneticgeneologist.com/battleofbigsandy.htm.