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A Mohawk warrior at Queenston Heights “We then came in sight of the enemy at the other end of a field. We doubled our pace to come up with them. They fired and ran, and fired again…. The warriors returned the fire of the enemy with coolness and spirit; and although [the American] fire certainly made the greatest noise (from the number of muskets), yet I believe ours did the most execution.” This is from an account of the Battle of Queenston Heights by the man who led Haudenosaunee warriors through many of the War of 1812’s pivotal battles. A new edit by Carl Benn of the journals of John Norton is being published this fall; see p.3.
William Johnson and Molly Brant. His brother, another officer after the general fighting had stopped, he asserts – speaking of of the Indian Department, was fighting alongside Norton. the American prisoners – that “they had no reason to complain Sheaffe’s main force of about 900 advanced shortly after 3:00 of cruelty this day.” and the British and Americans exchanged volleys. The redcoats They were, however, completely defeated. As many as 500 closed to fight face-to-face as the American line disintegrated – Americans were killed, drowned or wounded and 925 were taken Norton’s warriors were soon behind part of it – and many of its prisoner. Among the defenders, 25 (including five warriors) soldiers plunged over the edge and down to the Niagara River. were killed and more than 90 were wounded, including perhaps When the British advanced, Norton writes elsewhere, “we rushed a dozen warriors – and Norton himself, although only slightly. upon them and broke the flank, pursuing them with considerable A week after the battle, Major-General Sheaffe wrote that the slaughter till we raised the shout in the rear of the centre, which Haudenosaunee contingent “deserved the highest praise for their seemed to throw the whole into confusion.” good order and spirit.” And Sheaffe told his commander on the Surrendering during the chaos of a battle’s conclusion has day of the fighting that his freedom to concentrate forces from always been a hazardous venture, and no less so on this occasion. beyond Queenston was “chiefly to be ascribed to the judicious A few warriors may have killed Americans trying to surrender; position taken by Norton and the Indians with him on the woody one did kill a Canadian militiaman mistaken for an enemy. brow of the high ground above Queenston.” It was high praise Although conceding that “the inconsiderate” continued firing for the leadership and tactical judgement of the Mohawk leader.
Major John Norton, by Thomas Phillips, is an oil on canvas (27” x omrades and Brothers: be men. 35”) in the Collection of the Duke Remember the fame of ancient of Northumberland. warriors, whose breasts were never daunted by odds of number. You have run from your encampments to this place to meet the enemy. We have found what we came for. Let no anxieties distract your minds. There they are. It only remains to fight. Should others cross below near the lake’s shore and threaten your women, they can retire until the contest is ended, and then we will look for them; but my heart strongly forebodes that before the sun shall have sunk behind the western hills, these invading foes shall have fallen before you, or have owed their lives to your mercy. Haste; let us ascend yon path, by which, unperceived, we may gain their rear. Your bullets shall soon spread havoc and dismay among he visited twice on behalf of those ranks that form so proudly, exulting in the Six Nations, and which their temporary advantages. Let not their created the opportunities numbers appal you. Look up: it is he above for the portraits. This one that shall decide our fate. Our gallant friends, was done by Thomas Philthe redcoats, will soon support us. lips in 1815 and shows a man ten years older (and his was Norton’s address to his warriors immediately with another war fought) than the man who sat for the minbefore they joined the battle (he attributes the oration to iature on the front page. Phillips also painted Lord Byron and an anonymous warrior). The elevated diction is meant to William Blake, and his Romantic aesthetic is apparent here, too. reflect a variety of Mohawk more formal than everyday speech. Another result of the first visit was agreeing to translate, for a Some of his warriors had their families with them at Fort new Bible society, the Gospel of Saint John into Mohawk. Norton George – “near the lake’s shore” – and he leaves the door open supported the work of the Anglican church on the Grand River to their leaving to protect them if the enemy starts crossing the even as he also pursued aspects of Indigenous spirituality. And river farther downstream. he translated Sir Walter Scott’s poem “The Lady of the Lake,” Norton’s primary schooling was in Scotland and it seems he published in 1810, just because he could. It’s easy to imagine read widely. He was comfortable in the salons of London, which that he knew his Shakespeare, too.
Mail: 250 Fort York Blvd, Toronto, Ontario M5V 3K9 info@fortyork.ca www.fortyork.ca The Fife and Drum 7
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