Destruction of Caroline 1837 Plaque

THE DESTRUCTION OF THE CAROLINE, 1837

On the night of December 29-30, 1837, some 60 volunteers
acting on the orders of Col. Allan Napier McNab, and
commanded by Capt. Andrew Drew, R.N., set out from
Chippawa in small boats to capture the American steamer
“Caroline”. That vessel, which had been supplying William
Lyon MacKenzie’s rebel forces on Navy Island, was moored at
Fort Schlosser, N.Y. There she was boarded by Drew’s men,
her crew killed or driven ashore, and after an unsuccessful
attempt to start the engine, her captors set the ship afire
and left her to sink in the Niagara River. This action almost
precipitated war between Britain and the United States.

Erected by the Ontario Archaeological and Historic Sites Board.