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The Second Battle of Sacket's Harbor or simply the Battle of Sacket's Harbor, took place on 29 May 1813, during the War of 1812. A British force was transported across Lake Ontario and attempted to capture the town, which was the principal dockyard and base for the American naval squadron on the lake. They were repulsed by American regulars and militia. ==Background== In the early weeks of the War, the British had seized control of the Great Lakes. In September 1812 U.S. Navy Captain Isaac Chauncey was ordered to assume command of naval forces on Lakes Ontario and Erie with the directive to ''"...use every exertion to obtain control of them this fall."'' Within three weeks he had directed and brought 149 ships' carpenters, 700 Seamen and Marines and some 100 cannon, along with a good quantity of muskets and other supplies, to Sacket's Harbor on Lake Ontario〔Paine, 1920 pp.293-304〕 where there was already a small navy yard. At the start of the campaigning season of 1813, the main American forces on the border between the United States and Canada had been concentrated at Sacket's Harbor. The naval squadron which Chauncey had created was superior to the opposing British and Canadian-manned squadron at Kingston, and the troops under Major General Henry Dearborn could outnumber the British at any point on their extended front. The Americans had a chance to storm Kingston, which would have eliminated the British squadron and perhaps allowed the Americans to secure almost all of Upper Canada, but Dearborn and Chauncey exaggerated the number of British regulars stationed there. Instead they proceeded to attack York, the Provincial capital of Upper Canada, at the other end of the lake. On 27 April, the Americans won the Battle of York, temporarily occupying and looting the town. They then withdrew to Fort Niagara near the mouth of the Niagara River, preparing to attack the British position at Fort George on the opposite side of the river. Late in 1812, Captain James Lucas Yeo had been appointed by the Admiralty to command the British naval force on the Great Lakes. He arrived at Quebec on 5 May 1813, and proceeded up the Saint Lawrence River to Kingston with a party of 150 naval officers and sailors.〔Hitsman, p.142〕 On the way, he overtook and joined the Governor General of Canada, Lieutenant General Sir George Prevost, who was also proceeding to Kingston. This was Prevost's second visit to Upper Canada in four months, as it would probably prove necessary to replace Major General Roger Hale Sheaffe who had lost the confidence of the Provincial Assembly after his defeat at York. Prevost and Yeo arrived at Kingston on 15 May. While Prevost reorganised his command and attempted to raise the morale of the militia and civil authorities, Yeo hastened the completion of the new sloop-of-war and the refitting of several other armed vessels (although much of the work had already been accomplished by three officers, Commanders Robert Heriot Barclay, Robert Finnis and Daniel Pring, who had been detached from the naval establishment at Halifax, Nova Scotia). Prevost and Yeo knew that when ''Wolfe'' was completed, Yeo's squadron would be slightly superior to Chauncey's, but also that the Americans were building the 28-gun heavy sloop-of-war at Sackett's Harbor, which would return the advantage to Chauncey.〔Hitsman, p.143〕 On 25 May, Chauncey's squadron was sighted off Fort George. The British commander there, Brigadier General John Vincent, immediately sent a dispatch vessel to Kingston with the information. (Two days later, he was driven from his position with heavy losses at the Battle of Fort George.) On learning of Chauncey's presence off Fort George, Yeo and Prevost realised that the American squadron and Dearborn's army would be probably be occupied there for several days.〔Hitsman, p.144〕 There was an opportunity to capture Sacket's Harbor, and deliver a decisive blow which would ensure that the British gained naval supremacy on the lake. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Second Battle of Sacket's Harbor」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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