vost. The following summer, he was also di-
rected to replace Gen. Roger Hale Sheaffe
as overall commander of British forces in
Upper Canada.
Rottenburg’s subsequent tenure in Upper
Canada demonstrated his strengths as well as
weaknesses as a senior military leader. Faced
with dwindling food supplies, he expressly
forbade the distilling of rye in order to con-
serve grain stocks. It proved an unpopular de-
cision with the civilian population, and there-
after he skirted civilian affairs in favor of the
provincial assembly whenever possible. How-
ever, a more pressing concern was the deteri-
orating strategic situation of the West.
Since spring, a combined British and In-
dian force under Col. Henry Proctorand
noted Shawnee Chief Tecumseh had been
ravaging throughout Ohio with some success.
That summer Proctor, who feared the loss of
Lake Erie to the Americans, strongly urged
Rottenburg to authorize an attack against
their naval establishment at Presque Isle
(Erie, Pennsylvania). Such a strike, if success-
ful, would destroy the American fleet then
building there and guarantee British control
of the lake. However, Rottenburg, occupied as
he was with an American invasion of the
Niagara Peninsula, refused to forward the
necessary men and supplies. Erie was, in fact,
weakly defended and certainly unable to
withstand a combined assault by veteran
British forces, so a strategic opportunity may
in fact have been forfeited. Nevertheless, Rot-
tenburg, seemingly content not to disturb the
status quo, continued waging a war of out-
posts against the American garrison at Fort
George. As he dithered, the fleet of Capt.
Oliver Hazard Perry made active preparations
to take control of Lake Erie by force. On Sep-
tember 10, 1813, Perry accomplished exactly
that by defeating a smaller British squadron
under Capt. Robert Heriot Barclay. Proctor
then abandoned his position at Detroit and
withdrew eastward with a large American
army under Gen. William Henry Harrison in
close pursuit. Rottenburg, unfortunately, cas-
tigated Proctor for his precipitate retreat and
ordered him to move slowly so as not to of-
fend his Indian allies. This issue was decided
at the Battle of the Thames on October 5,
1813, wherein Tecumseh was killed and the
British totally defeated. Proctor, with some
justification, held his superiors responsible
for this disaster.
Rottenburg had since become aware of
Gen. James Wilkinson’s impending invasion
of Lower Canada along the St. Lawrence
River. For this reason he departed the Niagara
frontier for Kingston to await events. When
Wilkinson’s army subsequently passed
Kingston on a huge fleet of small boats, Rot-
tenburg dispatched a small British force
under Col. Joseph Wanton Morrison to
shadow them. Morrison was able to defeat
American forces under Gen. John Boyd at
Crysler’s Farm on November 11, 1813, which
forced Wilkinson to cancel his invasion. Un-
fortunately, a severe food shortage threatened
to force the British evacuation of Upper
Canada entirely. Rottenburg felt obliged to de-
clare martial law in the Eastern and Johnson
Districts of Upper Canada in order to force
Canadian farmers to sell their produce to the
army defending them. This move was roundly
criticized by the provincial House of Assem-
bly and later repealed by the energetic Gen.
Sir Gordon Drummond, who had arrived
from Lower Canada as Rottenburg’s replace-
ment. Within weeks Drummond was forced to
reimpose martial law to keep his troops fed.
In the spring of 1814, Rottenburg reported
back to Prevost at Montreal. Despite his
growing reputation for timidity, he remained a
favored officer of the governor-general, who
was himself inclined toward caution. For that
reason, when Prevost assembled a splendid
force of 10,000 of Wellington’s Peninsula vet-
erans that summer for the purpose of invad-
ing New York, he appointed Rottenburg his
second in command. Both men then advanced
as planned, but neither was conspicuously en-
gaged or distinguished in the decisive Battle
of Plattsburgh on September 11, 1814. Once
Prevost lost his fleet he summarily ordered a
humiliating withdrawal back to LowerROTTENBURG, FRANCISDE