The Battle of Crysler's Farm was fought November 11, 1813, during the War of 1812 (1812-1815) and saw an American campaign along the St. Lawrence River halted. In 1813, Secretary of War John Armstrong directed American forces to begin a two-pronged advance against Montreal. While one thrust was to advance down the St. Lawrence from Lake Ontario, the other was to move north from Lake Champlain. Commanding the western attack was Major General James Wilkinson. Known as a scoundrel before the war, he had served as an agent of the Spanish government as well as was involved in the conspiracy that saw former Vice President Aaron Burr charged with treason.
Preparations
As a result of Wilkinson's reputation, the commander on Lake Champlain, Major General Wade Hampton, refused to take orders from him. This led to Armstrong constructing an unwieldy command structure that would see all orders for coordinating the two forces pass through the War Department. Though he possessed around 8,000 men at Sackets Harbor, NY, Wilkinson's force was poorly trained and ill-supplied. Additionally, it lacked experienced officers and was suffering from an outbreak of disease. To the east, Hampton's command consisted of around 4,000 men. Together, the combined force was twice the size of the mobile forces available to the British in Montreal.
