Phineas Riall

Sir Phineas Riall (born December 15, 1775 , probably in Clonmel , Ireland , † November 10, 1850 in Paris , France ) was a British officer in the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812 with the United States .

Life

Phineas Riall joined the 92nd Infantry Regiment as an ensign in January 1794 and rose quickly through the purchase of officers' certificates. In March he became a lieutenant , in May a captain and in December a major in the 128th Regiment . He served in this unit until it was disbanded in 1797. He then remained out of service for seven years at half pay until he became major in the 15th Infantry Regiment in 1805. With this he came to the Caribbean , led a brigade during the attack on Martinique in 1809 and distinguished himself in the conquest of Guadeloupe . In 1810 he returned to England, became a lieutenant colonel in the 69th infantry regiment and in June 1813 major general .

Together with Lieutenant General Gordon Drummond , he was transferred to Canada in August of that year , where the war of 1812 with the United States had broken out. After a short time as commander in Montreal , he accompanied Drummond to Upper Canada , where he took over the supreme command. At the same time as the attack on Fort Niagara ordered by Drummond , Riall crossed the Niagara River with 500 soldiers and as many Indians on December 19 and advanced far into American territory, with extensive enemy supplies captured and the towns of Lewiston , Youngstown , Fort Schlosser and Manchester ( Niagara Falls) were destroyed. Riall was unable to prevent Indian riots against American civilians, which resulted in several deaths. On December 30 , Riall made a second foray across the Niagara River, threw back several US attacks after crossing the river, finally routed the attackers and captured significant quantities of weapons and ammunition. In the further course of the advance, Riall's troops captured again large quantities of supplies and burned Buffalo and Black Rock . Due to the conquest of Fort Niagara and the two advances by Riall, the strategic position on the Niagara front had fundamentally changed.

After this campaign, Drummond went to York ( Toronto ) while Riall was given command on the Niagara Front. After a quiet spring 1814, the Americans crossed the Niagara River with 4,000 men under Major General Jacob Brown and forced Fort Erie to surrender on July 3. Riall posted his troops behind the Chippewa River , where on July 4th the American vanguard of about 2,000 men under Brigadier General Winfield Scott appeared. The Americans initially withdrew, and the following day Riall and his army of about 1,500 men crossed the river and attacked Scott's troops head-on at around 5 p.m. However, the disciplined and well-trained US troops inflicted a severe defeat on the British in the Battle of Chippewa , which forced Riall to withdraw quickly to Fort George in order not to be cut off. His troops lost 137 dead and 304 wounded, the Americans only 48 dead and 227 wounded. The reason for the defeat was probably that Riall had mistaken Scott's US soldiers for militiamen and therefore underestimated their combat strength.

An American attack on Fort George failed because the Americans waited in vain for their navy to deliver heavy siege artillery. Eventually they withdrew towards Chippawa, Ontario . Riall followed them with about 1,000 soldiers and took a defensive position on a ridge near Niagara Falls . When US forces under Scott encountered his position on July 25, he began to withdraw as ordered, as Drummond had ordered him to avoid a decisive battle. Drummond marched in with reinforcements in good time, reversed the withdrawal order, and took up the fight. Riall had little share in the victory in the resulting, extremely bloody battle at Lundy's Lane , as he was seriously wounded shortly after the fight began and was taken prisoner by the Americans . From this he was released in December 1814 in exchange and returned to England. From 1816 to 1823 he was Governor of Grenada and during this time (1819) he married Elizabeth Scarlett . In 1831 he was accepted as a Knight Commander in the Royal Guelphic Order and in 1833 he was made a Knight Bachelor . In 1841 he was promoted to general . He died in 1850 while staying in Paris .

Web links

• Phineas Riall . In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography . 24 volumes, 1966–2018. University of Toronto Press, Toronto ( English , French ).

Individual evidence

1. ^ William Arthur Shaw: The Knights of England. Volume 1, Sherratt and Hughes, London 1906, p. 457.
2. ^ William Arthur Shaw: The Knights of England. Volume 2, Sherratt and Hughes, London 1906, p. 334.