Description:

December 19, 1813 was an important date for our little corner of the state.  In retaliation for the burning of Newark Ontario, (today’s Niagara-on-the-Lake),  the British came across the Niagara River to Old Fort Niagara and took the fort, then proceeded to burn the homes and farms of the settlers in what is now Youngstown.  Upon a signal that Fort Niagara was taken, a second contingent of British came across at 5 Mile Meadows ( now Stella Niagara) and proceeded burning and pillaging, south towards Lewiston.  A small band of Tuscarora Indians helped save many of the fleeing settlers with a clever trick that convinced the British there were more Indians than appeared.  Once this area was secured, the British went on to burn the Tuscarora village and proceed all the way to Buffalo.

This year visitors will be invited to relive this history. To be as close as possible to the original timeline as it is known, the British will arrive between 4:30 and 4:45 AM on December 19, 2013 at 5 Mile Meadows and march on the fort.  To witness the capture of the fort, you need to be inside the fort by 6:00 AM, if you are late you will not  be allowed in.  At 7:15 AM Faulkner Park in Youngstown will light flares in a symbolic representation of the fiery destruction of the small village just outside of the fort.  You can warm up at village restaurants with a community breakfast at 7:30 AM.  With breakfast over,  move down the main street to St John’s Episcopal Church for 2 presentations beginning at 8:15 AM,  including a screening of “Niagara on Fire”, a short film about the burning of Newark in December 1813, the action that precipitated the retaliation on American soil.  Through out the day there will be interpretive programs set up describing civilian life on the frontier in 1813.

Return to Lewiston for the 6:30 PM reenactment of “Flames through Lewiston” and the unveiling of the Tuscarora Heroes Monument at Center and Portage Streets.  Get there a bit early to watch the villagers flee from the British up Center Street from 8th Street  to Portage Road where the Tuscarora come to  their aid.