radic fighting at Niagara. He was present at
the ill-fated defense of Fort George under
Gen. John Vincentand subsequently accom-
panied the British retreat to Burlington
Heights. His men were apparently engaged
during the Col. John Harvey’s attack at
Stoney Creek (June 6, 1813), then pursued the
fleeing Americans back to Fort George. His
service to the British proved so valuable that
theater commander Gen. Francis de Rotten-
burgrecommended that Norton be given dis-
cretionary authority to parcel British gifts to
the Indians as he saw fit, further angering
Claus and the Indian Department. In the
spring of 1814, tensions between the two men
escalated to the point where Norton was sum-
moned to Quebec to confer with Governor-
General Sir George Prevost. At length Pre-
vost concurred with Norton’s side of the
argument, and henceforth Claus and the In-
dian Department were forbidden from inter-
fering with Mohawk affairs.
Thus far the Iroquois contingent fighting
alongside British soldiers had proved a valu-
able tactical asset, but their alliance was about
to undergo an unexpected transformation.
Mohawk warriors under Norton and others
waged war against the hated Americans with
relish, but they were wary about fighting other
Native Americans, particularly members of
the Six Nations living within U.S. boundaries.
However, in the summer of 1813, a British raid
upon Black Rock under Lt. Col. Cecil Bis-
shoppwas repulsed, partly through the aid of
Seneca Indians fighting for the United States.
In January 1814, a British punitive expedition
under Gen. Phineas Rialltorched the entire
Niagara frontier, including a Seneca village,
and the entire tribe was persuaded to declare
war on Great Britain. The following summer a
contingent of 300 warriors under the cele-
brated sachem Red Jacket joined Gen. Jacob
Brown’s Left Division at Buffalo and crossed
over with them in July 1814. On July 5, just
prior to the Battle of Chippawa, Riall pushed
forward a party of snipers who attacked
Brown’s camp and occasioned the deployment
of Red Jacket’s Indians against them. Norton,
at that time, was at the rear of the snipers with
approximately 200 Mohawks. The Senecas, as-
sisted by New York volunteers commanded by
Gen. Peter B. Porter, attacked and flushed the
enemy, running headlong into Norton’s com-
mand. A bloody fight then ensued, involving
Americans, British, Senecas, and Mohawks. At
length Porter’s command stampeded back into
camp, but only after accounting for 85 British
Indians, the majority killed by their cousins,
the Senecas. The prospect of Indians fighting
Indians demoralized Native Americans on
both sides, and in the weeks following this
savage encounter Norton met with tribal rep-
resentatives of the opposing camp and agreed
upon a truce. Thereafter, both tribes main-
tained a cautious neutrality, pledging not to
fight the other unless attacked themselves. It
was a move taken to prevent the Six Na-
tions—once a formidable warrior nation and
now on the brink of extinction—from commit-
ting suicide.
Norton himself decided to remain in
British service with a small body of western
Indians. In this capacity he and his men ac-
tively fought under Gen. Gordon Drummond
at the Battle of Lundy’s Lane in July 1814, as
well as during the ensuing siege of Fort Erie
in August and September. When the hostilities
ceased in January 1815, Norton worked on be-
half of his fellow tribesmen by supporting
claims to the government for losses incurred.
The following year he settled down on a large
land grant along the Grand River with his wife
and child. In 1823, Norton killed an Indian for
having an affair with his wife, was fined for
manslaughter, and departed on his own for
Arkansas. He apparently traveled south to
Mexico and west to California, where it is sus-
pected he died in October 1831. For all his in-
trigue against Indian Department officials,
and a tendency toward self-promotion, Nor-
ton was a brave warrior—and a valuable
British ally on many a hard-fought field.See also
Brant, JosephNORTON, JOHN