As the sun rose the British commandant and his officers, could see the
busy operations going on in ferrying across from Buffalo, artillery,
Indians and soldiers, with their various preparations of war. They
discovered also how completely they were invested. At the demand of
General Brown, without firing a gun or making any attempt at resistance,
the fort and garrison were surrendered.
This part of their enterprise being accomplished, they next turned their
thoughts toward Chippewa.
The Chippewa or Welland river, is a considerable stream not far from one
hundred yards wide, and from twelve to twenty feet deep, entering the
Niagara at right angles, as it flows in from the west.
On the north or left bank of this stream, near its mouth, the British army
had its station and defenses, consisting of two block houses, connected
and flanked by a parapet.
Street's creek was two miles above, or south of this, a small sluggish
stream, which enters the Niagara in a direction parallel with the
Chippewa. The mouth of this creek was selected by the American commanders,
as affording a favorable position for their army before the battle.
On the evening of the same day of the capture of Fort Erie, General Scott
with his brigade and Towson's artillery, proceeded down the river on his
way toward Chippewa, and on the morning of the fourth, encamped in the
open field, on the south side of Street's creek, having driven in some
advanced posts of the enemy.
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