Skirmish at McCrae's House

Skirmish at McCrae's House. Wednesday, December 15, 1813. During the American occupation of the lower Thames, this house was used as a base for U.S. troops. In mid-December 1813, the house was occupied by 39 officers and men of the 26th Regiment led by Lieutenant Larwill., At the same time, a group of 27 men of the Canadian militia from Norfolk and Middlesex Counties under the command of Lieutenant Henry Medcalf, had marched, through heavy snow, to Rondeau to collect cattle that were grazing in the area before they were found by the Americans. Once there, Medcalf was informed of the Americans occupying the McCrae house. From Rondeau, the soldiers marched to Chatham and met with Lieutenant John McGregor and six men of the Loyal Kent Volunteers to plan an attack. Just before dawn on December 15, 1813, the militia soldiers scaled the icy banks of the Thames River and fired a volley through the windows and doors of the house.The Americans surrendered with one soldier killed and four others wounded. Thomas McCrae, in his diary, noted that in the afternoon of December 16, two neighbours dug a grave and buried the American soldier., Lieutenant Medcalf and his men had covered over 350 kilometres on foot through snow-covered wilderness and captured 38 American troops without a single Canadian casualty. It was the only time that a Canadian militia unit has captured a regular U.S. Army unit.