To relieve the threatening situation at Fort Erie, General
Izard, who commanded the troops on Lake Champlain, was
ordered to proceed toward the northern border. Early in Sep-
tember, therefore, he started from Plattsburg, with 4,000
men, for Sackett's Harbor. Upon his arrival at that place on
September 17th, he received news of the repulse of the British
expedition on Lake Champlain, and also a letter from General
Brown, in which the latter described the peril of his little
army and requested early assistance. Pushing westward as
rapidly as he could, General Izard arrived at Lewiston on
October 5th. Here he was visited by Generals Brown and
Porter, and it was decided to combine the two forces to act
against Drummond's army. On October 10th and 11th Izard
crossed his troops at Black Rock and went into camp two
miles north of Fort Erie. As he was senior in rank to General
Brown he assumed command of the army, while Brown re-
turned to Sackett's Harbor.
With the recently joined Volunteers, General Izard's com-



WAR OF 1812 89

mand soon numbered nearly 8,000 men. He left a small garri-
son at Fort Erie, and moved toward the Chippewa with the
hope of drawing Drummond into a fight in the open field. On
October 18th there was a sharp engagement on Lyon's Creek,
between detachments of the two armies, but Drummond, con-
vinced that the American strength was now too great for him
to meet with hope of success, again fell back to Burlington
Heights.
