The Battle of Crysler's Farm, fought on fields beside the St. Lawrence River on November 11, 1813, was a crucial moment in the history of Upper Canada and marked the end of the most serious attempt by the United States to that time to invade Canada.

The campaign of 1813 focused on the St. Lawrence frontier with two powerful American armies (commanded by Hampton and Wilkinson) poised to meet at Montreal and cut British lines of communications on this lifeline into the heart of the continent. Hampton's army numbered just under 4,000; Wilkinson's close to 8,000.

They were opposed by small but highly trained - and motivated - armies under the commands of Colonel Charles-Michel d'Irumberry de Salaberry in Lower Canada and Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Wanton Morrison in Upper Canada. De Salaberry met and defeated Hampton's much larger force at the Battle of Chateauguay on October 26.

Morrison commanded a 1200-man-strong 'corps of observation', which harried Wilkinson’s army as their flotilla of batteaux and smaller gunboats made their way to Montreal. Wilkinson’s army fought a brief and confused rearguard action against Morrison at Hoople Creek on November 10 and, the following day, it turned to attack the Anglo-Canadian army as its vanguard continued on to occupy Cornwall.

Close to 4,000 American troops attacked Morrison's corps of 1200 on the ploughed fields of John Crysler’s Farm on November 11, 1813. The American troops were committed piecemeal to the battle and poor tactics confounded the American’s advance. The result was an uneven match-up despite the Americans' overwhelming numerical superiority. After close to three hours of hard fighting, they withdrew from the field leaving 400 casualties - killed, wounded and captured - and beat a hasty retreat to the U.S. side of the river. Morrison's 'corps of observation' suffered 200 casualties, or about one-sixth of his total force.

Stunned by the defeat, Wilkinson's army went into winter quarters at French Mills (present day Fort Covington), ending the threat to Lower Canada. The defeat at Crysler’s Farm ended US attempts to capture Lower Canada and closed the Northeastern theater of the War on the Canadian border. With a cessation of conflict on the St. Lawrence, American attentions would refocus on the Niagara in 1814, leading to a series of intense bloody engagements.

Recommended: Field of Glory: The Battle of Crysler's Farm, 1813 by Donald E. Graves.