#captain steele

Captain Steele, American, active 1814: Attack of Fort Oswego, on Lake Ontario (detail), 1817 aquatint.

In the spring of 1814 Commodore Yeo took advantage of temporary superiority on the lake to mount an attack against Oswego, an important way station in the supply line from New York City to Sackets Harbor. Oswego was protected by a decaying fortification named Fort Ontario, which was stocked with a few decrepit guns. [...] In their first attack on May 5, the British, led by Lieutenant Colonel Victor Fischer, were repulsed by artillery fire because contrary winds prevented Yeo from offering supporting fire. The following day, the British landing force got the naval support it needed and drove the Americans from the beach and then stormed the fort. [...] Fortunately for the United States, they missed a large cache of naval guns and rope intended for Sackets Harbor that had been stashed twelve miles above the fort at Oswego Falls (present-day Fulton, New York).

— Donald R. Hickey, The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict

WAYLON STEELE