Scott, Winfield; et al. Public Defences on Lake Ontario (Doc. No. 225) Letter from The Secretary of War, transmitting, The information required...in relation to the public defences on Lake Ontario, the river St. Lawrence, &c. Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1842. [11662]
Removed, 8 3/4 x 5 5/8 inches, 6 clean pp. Good. Pamphlet.
27th Congress, Second Session, House of Representatives, War Department, Doc. No. 225.
The dangerous undefended one hundred and fifty mile stretch of land along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence river was the cause of alarm in 1842. The forts Niagara and Ontario were the only defences, and there were no military ships anywhere to be found. Sacketts' Harbor had two partial ships in storage since 1814 and the close of the War of 1812, when their construction had ceased. Winfield Scott relates both that the Canadian side had British warships at their disposal, and that Sackett's Harbor had barracks and other military installations that could and should be utilized and brought back into service.
"For the foregoing reasons, I cannot but recommend the early commencement of land batteries, say of thirty or forty guns, for the defence of the entrance of Sacketts Harbor."
The repair and reconstruction of Fort Niagara, and "old Fort Ontario, at Oswego, New York" are both recommended. A new fort and barracks is asked for "at the narrows of the St. Lawrence, below Ogdensburg."
A report of a study by Col. J. J. Abert of the Corps of Topographical Engineers agrees with the importance of Sackett's Harbor, and recommends that it be fortified, "and that an armed steamer be constructed upon Lake Ontario."
