Cook’s Mills War of 1812 Trail

In 1799, when present-day Welland was farmland, the Yokom family came from Pennsylvania and built a grist mill on Lyons Creek. Today, Yokom Road in Cooks Mills bears their name. Prior to the War of 1812, an Englishman named Calvin Cook purchased the mill and added a tannery, sawmill, and distillery. The place known as Cooks Mills became a prominent community in Crowland Township; some early maps refer to the location as Crowland Village.

The Battle of Cooks Mills was a heavy skirmish between British and Canadian troops during the War of 1812. After his unsuccessful siege of Fort Erie, British Lieutenant-General Gordon Drummond withdrew north and concentrated his army along the Chippawa River.

In October 1814, American forces under Major-General George Izard advanced northwards. On October 18, Izard ordered Brigadier General Bissell with a force of about 900 men to march to Cooks Mills, a British outpost, to seize provisions in the form of wheat and flour intended for British troops. Early on the morning of October 19, 1814, the American picket at Misener’s Hollow, east of the mill, was attacked by soldiers of the Glengarry Light Infantry and the 82nd, 100th and 104th Regiments. The British force was supported by a six-pound field cannon and Congreve rockets.

Led by Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Myers, the British and Canadian troops succeeded in their objective of assessing the American forces so that Drummond could take appropriate action and withdrew. Bissel also accomplished his mission of destroying the wheat and flour stored at the mills and threw 200 bushels of wheat into the millpond. (The British loss of wheat was offset when several American provision boats crossed the Niagara River unaware of Izard’s retreat and were captured by the British.)

When it became apparent to Bissel that Drummond would hold his defences and British ships were dominating Lake Ontario, and that an American advance could be cut off from behind, he and his men withdrew to join the main American force at Fort Erie. Shortly afterwards, the Americans destroyed Fort Erie and re-crossed the Niagara River to go into winter quarters.

The Battle of Cooks Mills in October of 1814 was the last land battle of the War of 1812 between British and American regular forces.

We are fortunate to have three accounts of the events of October 18 and 19, 1814, written by people directly involved in the conflict:

• General Daniel Bissell, commander of the American force
• Colonel Christopher Myer, commander of the British force
• Lieutenant John Le Couteur, 104th Foot, British Army

Additional sources of information are the war losses claims filed by Henry Buchner, militia captain and several other residents of Crowland Township, and the memoirs of Cooks Mills residents.

Lyons Creek headwaters were in the Wainfleet marsh; however, they were later cut off by the construction of the Welland Canal’s feeder canal. The creek was carried under the canal through a stone culvert. Due to the construction, the water level in the marsh slowly receded, and the culvert was being clogged up by debris. Eventually, the flow in Lyons Creek decreased to the extent of no longer being able to turn the water wheels at Cooks Mills. The industries were closed and abandoned, and the canal that contributed to the development of Welland indirectly caused an economic recession for Cooks Mills. Some time later, Welland beat neighbouring communities in running for the county seat; Cooks Mills became a farming area as opposed to Welland's industrial centre.

By the time the Welland bypass was constructed between 1967-1973, the original headwaters in the Wainfleet marsh had all but disappeared, and most of the creek’s remaining flow was coming from an earlier tributary called Indian Creek on some maps. This made Lyons Creek somewhat U-shaped, as Indian Creek flowed west before joining the original Lyons Creek. While the bypass was being constructed, the creek was cut into three parts, and what was once Indian Creek now flows into the canal. Several kilometres north, Lyons Creek is fed directly from the canal. The middle part of the creek dried up and much of its bed was torn up during construction of the approaches to the Townline tunnel.

For this project Cooks Mills local historian Gerry Kirk provided historical information and Arborist Bryan Kaastra identified and dated the “Witness Trees”. The City of Welland Heritage Advisory Committee is grateful to both these individuals for their valuable contributions.