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War of 1812 Series (27): Eyewitness to 1813 Victory at Beaver Dams, 2012, p. 1

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Six Nations Legacy Consortium War of 1812 Eyewitness to 1813 Victory at Beaver Dams Dominque Ducharme's Account, 1826 Dominque Ducharme was one of the officers in the Indian Department who headed the St. Lawrence Mohawks (Kahnawake, Kanasatake, Akwesasne, Tyendinaga) in the War of 1812. He provides an eye-witness account of what took place when the Warriors defeated the Americans: "On the 23rd [June] I went scouting to the Niagara River with 25 of my Indians. We discovered [near fort George] a barge filled with soldiers; the Indians fired upon it, killed four men and made seven prisoners. . . On the 24th, about 8 o'clock in the morning, our scouts returned, giving the death-cry, which signified that we were attacked by the enemy. We immediately prepared for action. . ." Ducharme then convinced Major Peter De Haren to let his warriors attack in the woods. They ran forward, took position on both sides of the main road, until 20 U.S. soldiers appeared and were killed by Ducharme's warriors. The main army then appeared, and did kill several warriors as they took to the woods. "Then the Mohawks retired. Captain Carr [Kerr] and Lieutenant Brandt also left us to try to rally their Indians and to demand assistance from the troops, but they did not reappear during the engagement," wrote Ducharme. This forced the St. Lawrence Mohawks to fight even harder which resulted in two American retreats. Ducharme's request that his warriors receive the booty was denied. "The victory was entirely due to the Indians," he wrote, "who were not only deprived of the booty which had been promised them but of the honour and glory which they had won."

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