Battle of Longwoods The Battle of Longwoods took place during the Anglo - American War of 1812 . On 4 March 1814 , a mounted American raiding party defeated an attempt by British regulars , volunteers from the Canadian militia and Native Americans to intercept them near Wardsville , in present - day Southwest Middlesex , Ontario . Background . In October , 1813 , in the aftermath of the American naval victory of the Battle of Lake Erie , an American army under Major General William Henry Harrison recovered Detroit ( which the British had captured early in the war ) , captured the abandoned British post at Fort Malden at Amherstburg , and defeated a retreating British and Native American force at the Battle of the Thames . The British feared that the Americans might follow up their victory and strike at their position at Burlington at the western end of Lake Ontario , but the period of enlistment of most of the militia troops in Harrison ' s army was about to expire , and the Americans withdrew . During the subsequent months , there was a " no man ' s land " stretching almost between Amherstburg and Burlington , where Canadian militia skirmished with occasional American raiding or scouting parties . Late in December , 1813 , the British established an outpost at Delaware , roughly halfway between these two positions , and another at Port Talbot on the shore of Lake Erie . On 23 December , the garrison of the post at Delaware surprised and captured a small American outpost near Chatham . The American commander at Amherstburg was Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Butler of the 28th U . S . Infantry . He sent an expedition under Captain Andrew Holmes to capture one of these two British posts , as circumstances allowed . The expedition consisted of mounted detachments from the 24th , 26th , 27th and 28th U . S . Regiments of Infantry and two six - pounder cannon , and was later joined by some rangers and militia dragoons from Michigan . The raiders , including the regulars , were dressed in buckskins against the cold and were armed with rifles and tomahawks . American raid . Holmes left Amherstburg on 21 February , moving along the shore of Lake Erie . The ground was soft , and he was forced to abandon his two guns near Pointe au Pelee . After a clash with some Canadian militia who escaped , Holmes decided that the militia would warn the defenders of Port Talbot , and he determined therefore to make for Delaware instead . On 2 March , he was within of Delaware , but cold , hunger and sickness had reduced his force from 180 to 164 men . The British had indeed been warned of his presence , and Holmes learned from a Canadian renegade that 300 men had sallied from Delaware and were within an hour ' s march of him . Holmes left the Michigan Rangers as a rearguard while his main body retreated five miles to the Twenty Mile Creek . The Michigan troops also fell back after a skirmish with Caldwell ' s Rangers , who were leading the British advance . Holmes was urged by some of his subordinates to retreat further , but he determined to hold his position . He occupied a hill overlooking the bridge over the creek , and fortified the hill with a u - shaped abatis ( defences made of felled trees and branches ) . Early on 4 March , Caldwell ' s Rangers exchanged a few shots with the Americans and then feigned a retreat , hoping to draw the Americans out of their defences . Holmes did indeed pursue for before the Michigan Militia Dragoons warned him that the British were preparing an ambush , and he hastily returned to his position . Battle . The full British force followed up the Americans and arrived at Twenty Mile Creek at 5 p . m . that day . The force consisted of two companies of regulars ( the light company of the 1st Battalion , the 1st Regiment of Foot ( Royal Scots ) , numbering 101 men , and the light company of the 2nd Battalion , 89th Regiment of Foot , numbering 45 men ) , two full - time militia units ( the Loyal Kent Volunteers and Caldwell ' s Western Rangers , numbering 50 men between them ) and 44 Native American warriors ( Wyandots and Potawatomi s under Sauganash , or Billy Caldwell as he was known to the British ) . In all , this force numbered about 240 men . The British commander at Delaware , Captain Stewart of the Royal Scots , had not expected action and had gone to confer with Colonel Matthew Elliot of the Essex Militia , so the force was commanded by Captain James Lewis Basden of the 89th . Although Basden had only a rough idea of the ground and American strength from the Rangers ' earlier reconnaissance , he nevertheless attacked immediately . He ordered the Rangers and Volunteers to outflank the Americans to the north and the Native warriors to do the same from the south , while he himself led the regulars directly against the front of the American position . The Rangers , militia and Indians crossed the creek out of range of the American position and began skirmishing on the flanks . The regulars opened fire against the American centre , with little effect . Basden then led a charge against the American position . As the British advanced towards the bridge , bunched into a column by the narrow road , the Americans poured a withering fire into them , mowing down the leading troops . Basden only became aware of the abatis after the British had crossed the bridge , but nevertheless led an advance up the hill . The British were unable to climb the icy slope in the face of the heavy fire and were beaten back . Basden himself was wounded in the leg , and Captain Johnston , leading the light company of the Royal Scots , was killed . The British regulars then fell back into the ravine through which the creek flowed and tried to drive the Americans from the hill with musket fire from behind trees , but the Americans firing from a height inflicted heavy casualties . On the flanks , the Indians had not pressed their attack . The Rangers had been more successful , but were too few to risk an attack into the American position . As darkness fell at about 6 . 30 p . m . the entire British force , now commanded by Ensign Mills of the 2 / 89th , retreated . The British had suffered 14 killed , 51 wounded , 1 wounded prisoner and 1 missing . The Americans lost 4 killed and 3 wounded . Aftermath . Although Holmes had defeated Basden ' s force , he knew he was outnumbered and decided that he would be unable to capture the post at Delaware . At 9 p . m . he abandoned his position at Twenty Mile Creek and retreated to Detroit . The British also later abandoned the outpost at Delaware . However , the two American 6 - pounder guns which Holmes had abandoned near Pointe au Pelee were later discovered by another local Canadian militia unit , the Loyal Essex Volunteers . The Volunteers destroyed the carriages and concealed the guns in a black ash swamp , where they remained to the end of the war . Holmes was promoted to Major , but was killed a few months later at the Battle of Mackinac Island . Basden recovered from his wound , and later fought at the Battle of Lundy ' s Lane . At the end of the year , he was temporarily in command of the remnants of the 2 / 89th Regiment . ( He was later made Companion of the Bath after serving in the First Anglo - Burmese War , and returned to Canada to serve during the Rebellions of 1837 . ) Eight active regular battalions of the United States Army ( 1 - 3 Inf , 2 - 3 Inf , 4 - 3 Inf , 1 - 6 Inf , 2 - 6 Inf , 4 - 6 Inf , 2 - 7 Inf and 3 - 7 Inf ) perpetuate the lineages of the old 24th , 27th and 28th Infantry Regiments , all of which had elements that participated in the battle . The battlesite was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1924 .