Battle of Lacolle Mills ( 1814 ) The Battle of Lacolle Mill was fought on 30 March 1814 during the War of 1812 . The small garrison of a British outpost position , aided by reinforcements , fought off a large American attack . Background . After the St . Lawrence campaign had ended late the previous year with the British victory at the Battle of Crysler ' s Farm , the defeated American Army under Major General James Wilkinson went into winter quarters at French Mills , New York , only just inside the United States . The British commanders feared that the Americans could threaten the British line of communication along the St . Lawrence River from this position , but Wilkinson made no attempt to do so . His army arrived at French Mills with few supplies , and because of poor roads , lack of transport and draught animals and inefficiency of the Quartermaster General ' s Department , it was almost impossible to supply the army in this advanced position . Sickness rapidly increased until there were no less than 450 sick in squalid conditions in a hospital in Malone , New York and many more in French Mills . Finally , in late January , Secretary of War John Armstrong ordered Wilkinson to detach a division numbering 2 , 000 men under Brigadier General Jacob Brown to Sackett ' s Harbor , New York , and fall back with the main body ( about 4 , 000 fit men ) to Plattsburgh , New York on Lake Champlain , while the sick and wounded were removed to Burlington , Vermont . British troops followed up almost to Plattsburgh , recovering large quantities of supplies from settlements in New York state such as Malone and Four Corners and paroling many sick American soldiers who fell into their hands , before withdrawing . Wilkinson was aware that he would almost certainly be removed from command following the defeat of the St . Lawrence campaign , and planned several offensives to restore his reputation . Most of these were too ambitious with the means available , but one objective seemed feasible . A few miles north of the border between Canada and the United States , the main road running north crossed the small Lacolle River . Here , the British maintained an outpost of 80 men of the 13th Regiment of Foot in a blockhouse and the stout stone - built mill building . The defenders also included a Congreve rocket detachment of the Royal Marine Artillery , and there were other outpost positions and blockhouses nearby . Battle . Wilkinson marched northwards from Plattsburgh to attack this outpost on 27 March 1814 . His force consisted of 4 , 000 men organised into three brigades , with 11 pieces of artillery . The march was delayed by deep snow and mud , and he was not able to occupy Odelltown until 30 March , and begin the attack on Lacolle Mill until the early afternoon . The Americans opened fire with two 12 - pounder cannon and a 5 . 5 inch mortar . They could not bring an 18 - pounder gun into action because of soft ground around the area . The British garrison fired back with their Congreve rockets . Although the rockets were inaccurate , they caused several American casualties . The American troops had not encountered these weapons before in battle and were unnerved . The flank ( i . e . the Light and Grenadier ) companies of the 13th had been stationed nearby . They launched a bayonet charge against the American artillery emplacements , but they were far outnumbered and were repulsed . Hearing the firing from some away , a company of the Canadian Voltigeurs and the Grenadier company of the Canadian Fencibles also marched to reinforce the defenders . They waded through icy water to slip through the American lines and opened fire on American artillery , wounding the American artillery commander , his replacement and many of the gun crews . The Americans were also under fire from British gunboats under Commander Daniel Pring of the Royal Navy , who had brought his vessels up the Richelieu River from Ile aux Noix to the mouth of the Lacolle River . By evening , the Americans had made little impression on the British defences . Rather than launch an all - out assault , Wilkinson ordered a retreat . The Americans returned to Plattsburgh , considerably disheartened . Wilkinson had recklessly exposed himself to British fire throughout the action , though to little purpose . Aftermath . On 11 April , Wilkinson received orders from Armstrong relieving him of command . This was probably not a direct result of the debacle at Lacolle Mills , but followed a request made by Wilkinson himself on 24 March for a Court of Enquiry to rule on his conduct of the St . Lawrence campaign the previous year . This eventually resulted in a court martial , but Wilkinson was acquitted of various charges of negligence and misconduct . The failure nevertheless allowed Armstrong to promote a crop of comparatively junior officers to command divisions and brigades . Major General George Izard , who had been on leave when the Battle of Lacolle Mills was fought , eventually took command at Plattsburgh . Thirteen active regular infantry battalions of the United States Army ( 1 - 2 Inf , 2 - 2 Inf , 1 - 3 Inf , 2 - 3 Inf , 4 - 3 Inf , 1 - 4 Inf , 2 - 4 Inf , 3 - 4 Inf , 1 - 5 Inf , 2 - 5 Inf , 1 - 6 Inf , 2 - 6 Inf and 4 - 6 Inf ) perpetuate the lineages a number of American units ( the old 5th , 6th , 11th , 13th , 14th and 20th Infantry Regiments ) that were present at the battle . The site of the battle was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1923 .