Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History No. 11

The Battle of Queenston Heights

by Carol Whitfield

Abstract

The village of Queenston, Upper Canada, was the scene of the second major American invasion of British territory in the War of 1812. Early on 13 October 1812, the Americans, under Stephen and Solomon Van Rensselaer, crossed the Niagara River and gained a foothold, despite the efforts of the small British force stationed there. Major General Isaac Brock and his provincial aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Colonel John Macdonell, were killed in unsuccessful attempts to dislodge the invaders. Late in the day a large group of reinforcements under Major General Roger Hale Sheaffe defeated the Americans, taking more than nine hundred prisoners. The British losses, although slight, were significant because Brock, the president and commanding officer of Upper Canada, was killed.