60 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



and even his warmest friends did not consider him competent to com- 

 mand in the field. About the end of July, Peter B. Porter, the rep- 

 resentative in Congress for the Niagara district of New York, a 

 leader of the war party, as well as quartermaster-general of the 

 State militia, whose political influence was powerful, became utterly 

 disgusted with the apparent incapacity of the senior military officers 

 serving on that frontier and wrote a vigorous letter to the Secretary 

 of War, criticising their conduct at length and finally proposing that 

 Armstrong should either assume the command in person or appoint 

 Wilkinson. Armstrong had in fact continued on very friendly terms 

 with Wilkinson although fully aware of his numerous defects in character 

 and conduct. His appointment to the command was apparently 

 forced upon him by the pressure of circumstances, contrary to his 

 own judgment. 



Fully convinced by this time of the futility of further operations 

 in the Niagara peninsula, Armstrong wished to revert to his original 

 plan of an attack upon Kinsgton as soon as the command of Lake 

 Ontario could be regained. Sackett's Harbour was the most natural 

 and convenient point of concentration of the troops and ships required 

 to carry it out. The advance of a strong division from Lake Cham- 

 plain to threaten and perhaps attack Montreal and its dependencies 

 if those posts should be materially weakened for the defence of King- 

 ston, was also contemplated. As an alternative to a direct attack 

 on Kingston, he suggested the movement of the main body of troops 

 from Sackett's Harbour to the village of Hamilton (now called 

 Waddington), where, it was thought, the passage of the river might 

 be easily made. After this was accomplished, a high narrow bluff 

 between the river and an impassable swamp, must be seized and 

 fortified to interrupt the British line of communication and serve as 

 a base for future operations against Montreal in conjunction with 

 the force from Lake Champlain. To ensure the success of the latter 

 plan, the American fleet must command the river from Lake Ontario 

 to Ogdensburg and send a flotilla of gunboats to gain possession of 

 Lake St. Francis. Official returns, dated August 2, showed an 

 aggregate of 14,356 regular troops in the Ninth Military District, 

 of whom 4,053 were at Burlington, 3,668 at Sackett's Harbour, and 

 6,636 at Forts George and Niagara. The ineffectives included in 

 this return numbered 2,528. The officer selected for the command of 

 the force eventually assembled at Sackett's would be allowed to make 

 a choice of these plans. A memorandum containing these proposals 

 was submitted to the President on July 23 and approved the same day 

 without alteration. Dearborn had already transferred the command 

 of the troops on the Niagara to Boyd, who was instructed to remain 



