At the onset of the war of 1812, the British gained a stunning Victory at Detroit when Brigadier General William Hull raised the white flag when he was deceived by Major General Isaac Brock in what is known as the "Surrender of Detroit". Desperate to reverse the failure of this defeat, the Americans under General Stephen Van Rensselar made their way up the long trek from Albany to to the Niagara region in Upper Canada. Here, General Brock was now situated at Fort Geroge with about 1500 soldiers and 250 native allies, but he spread out his force out along the Niagara region, not knowing where the American's would attempt to invade next.
During the night of October 12, 1812 General Van Rennsselaer led the New York Militia across the treacherous currents of the Niagara river at the city of Queenston in Upper Canada. This surprised the British, since they were convinced that the Americans would cross down river at Fort George. In fact, the American's attempt to cross the river seemed so poorly organized it that General Brock thought it was nothing more than a fake attempt to distract them. Because of this, Van Rennsselaer and his men were able to make multiple trips with hardly any notice. Once across the shore, the battle began. Some of the Van Rennsselaer's force then found their way up to the top of Vrooman's Point and seized a fortified embankment that was being used by the British to restrict the flow of additional American reinforcements across the river. At this point, the Americans gained the upper hand in the battle, giving them command of Queenston Heights against the British.
General Isaac Brock was awakened by the firing of the guns at Vrooman's pont, hopped on his horse and rushed to Queenston where he personally led his men into battle trying to regain control of the gun position at Vrooman's point. With his sword drawn to lead the charge, Brock became an easy target. In the early morning of October 13, General Isaac Brock received a fatal shot to the heart and died almost instantly. It had been less than 2 months since the surrender of Detroit, and America had suffered heavy casualties, but with the death of Major General Isaac Brock, America had been vindicated.
In his 1812 State of the union, President James Madison recounted the battle:
"At a recent date an attack was made on a post of the enemy near Niagara by a detachment of the regular and other forces under the command of Major-General Van Rensselaer, of the militia of the State of New York. The attack, it appears, was ordered in compliance with the ardor of the troops, who executed it with distinguished gallantry, and were for a time victorious; but not receiving the expected support, they were compelled to yield to reenforcements of British regulars and savages. Our loss has been considerable, and is deeply to be lamented. That of the enemy, less ascertained, will be the more felt, as it includes among the killed the commanding general, who was also the governor of the Province, and was sustained by veteran troops from unexperienced soldiers, who must daily improve in the duties of the field."http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29454
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