Lacolle in Montérégie, Québec — Central Canada (French-Canadian)

La bataille du pont de Lacolle

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, May 19, 2024

1. La bataille du pont de Lacolle Marker

Inscription. Click to hear the inscription.

Dans la brume de l'aube, le 20 novembre 1812, le général américain Henry Dearborn s'apprête à faire traverser à son armée la frontière du Bas-Canada à Odelltown pour marcher vers Montréal. Mais un grand nombre des 5 000 réservistes qui la composent refuse de le suivre. Dearborn ne dispose finalement que de 1 100 hommes pour monter l’assaut sur la ville. À la rivière Lacolle, l’armée britannique l’attend. Elle est principalement constituée de miliciens d’élite, de Voltigeurs canadiens, de Mohawks et de Voyageurs.

La stratégie américaine est simple : faire traverser plus de 300 cavaliers de la cavalerie américaine sur la digue du moulin de la rivière Lacolle et les rassembler devant la maison du forgeron. L'infanterie doit se scinder en deux groupes. Le premier passe la rivière plus à l'ouest dans le but d'encercler l'adversaire. Le second maintient sa position sur la rive sud du pont de Lacolle, en appui aux troupes déjà déployées la rive nord.

La confusion est grande. Un coup de feu involontaire chez les Américains provoque une réaction en chaîne. Une quarantaine d'autochtones lancent des cris de guerre au poste

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

avancé et se dispersent dans le bois. Traumatisés par la cuisante défaite qu'ils ont connue aux mains des mêmes opposants un mois tôt, les Américains s’imaginent que le vacarme est annonciateur d’au moines 500 Amérindiens. Les soldats ont peur. Positionnés en demi-cercle, ils se mettent à tirer dans le brouillard matinal, mais font feu sur les leurs. Sur la rive sud, l'infanterie américaine confond les autochtones et ses propres combattants.

Démoralisés par cette défaite embarrassante, les Américains attendront deux ans avant d'attaquer Lacolle à nouveau, lors de la Bataille du moulin le 30 mars 1814.

[English] The Battle at Lacolle Bridge
Early on the foggy morning of November 20th 1812, the American Army led by General Henry Dearborn was set to cross the border into Canada at Odelltown. The goal was to capture Montreal. However, a large number of reservists refused to cross into Canada. From the 5,000 man force stationed at Champlain, NY, General Dearborn was left with only 1,100 men. At Riviere Lacolle, the British Army, made up of elite militiamen, Canadian Voltigeurs, Mohawks and Voyageurs, was ready and waiting. The American strategy

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, May 19, 2024

2. La bataille du pont de Lacolle Marker

Looking east from Rue de l'Église Sud (Québec Route 221).

was simple: 300 cavalrymen were to cross the river on the mill dike and assemble in front of the blacksmith’s house. The infantry divided in two: the first contingent crossed the river further west to surround the enemy. The rest remained on the south side of the Lacolle Bridge in support of American troops already deployed on the north shore. Confusion was great. An inadvertent gunshot from the American force resulted in a chain reaction. About forty native defenders at the advance post uttered war whoops and scattered through the forest. The ruckus was such that Americans, traumatized by a nasty defeat at the hands of this same enemy barely a month before, believed the natives numbered over 500 warriors. Fear set in. Deployed in a half circle in the foggy conditions, the Americans began to fire on their own. On the south shore, the American infantry mistook natives for their own soldiers. Demoralized by this stinging defeat, the Americans were to avoid attacking Lacolle again for two long years, until the Battle of the Mill on March 30 1814.

Erected by Tourisme Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu & région. (Marker Number 13.)

Topics.

Paid Advertisement

This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Bridges & Viaducts • Indigenous Peoples and Communities • War of 1812. A significant historical date for this entry is November 20, 1812.

Location. 45° 4.792′ N, 73° 22.333′ W. Marker is in Lacolle, Québec, in Montérégie. It is on Rue de l'Église Sud (Québec Route 221) just north of Rue du Moulin, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Lacolle QC J0J 1J0, Canada. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Greater Montréal.

It is also in Central Canada.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

and the Western World.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once a British colony,

the Viceroyalty of New France,

the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy,

and Rupert’s Land.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 kilometers of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Lacolle War Memorial (about 120 meters away, measured in a direct line); Hôtel de ville de Lacolle (about 120 meters away); L'Église Unie de Lacolle (about 150 meters away); Église Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel (approx. 0.4 kilometers away); Blockhaus de la Rivière-Lacolle (approx. 2.6 kilometers away); Bataille du Moulin de Lacolle / Battle of the Lacolle Mill (approx. 2.6 kilometers away); a different marker also named Blockhaus de la Rivière-Lacolle (approx. 2.6 kilometers away); Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle Historique (approx. 3.2 kilometers away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Lacolle.

Credits. This page was last revised on November 5, 2026. It was originally submitted on November 5, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 4 times since then. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on November 5, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.