The Battle of the Windmill in 1838 was a bloody event in the complex struggle between the Family Compact and the Reformers for control of the British colony of Upper Canada. The turning point in the struggle in Upper Canada was the election for members of the Legislative Assembly in 1836. With the support of the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir Francis Bond Head, the backers of the Family Compact successfully turned the campaign into a choice between loyalty and disloyalty to the crown. The election went against the Reformers and their defeat convinced William Lyon Mackenzie and his radical followers that the time had come for armed rebellion. The stage was set for the events of 1837 - 1838 which endangered the survival of Upper Canada as a British colony.
Mackenzie and his followers fled across the border into New York State and their escape produced a more serious danger to the colony than their attempt at rebellion. Many Americans were convinced that the Canadian colonists were a downtrodden people anxious to overthrow British rule and create a republic modelled after their own. They focused on this anti-British sentiment and the Canadian presence became the catalyst for the creation of a secret organization whose members were known as Hunters, which sprang up along the border from Maine to Ohio. It is estimated that, in New York State alone, 283 Hunters lodges were established with over 20,000 members.
The stone windmill that became the focus of the Battle of the Windmill in November 1838 still stands. Sixty feet in height with thick rubble stone walls, the windmill itself is at the top of a steep slope that rises thirty feet above the river. In the early morning hours of November 12, vessels were spotted heading to the shore and the alarm bell sounded to defend the town. The events that unfolded were bloody and tragic. The Hunters, numbered about 250 men, expected they would be joined by countless discontented Canadians when they landed at Windmill Point. Their newly-elected commander, Nils von Schoultz, seemed an ideal leader for their enterprise.
On November 13, at about 9 o'clock, the British troops numbering nearly 600, were on the move. The fighting went on for five hours, at which time the British withdrew, leaving the Hunters still in control of the windmill site. A later report stated that 13 British soldiers were killed and 78 wounded, while the Hunters were thought to have lost 18 killed, 20 wounded and 26 taken prisoner.
At 3:30 in the afternoon on November 16, the British artillery, 1000 strong, started bombarding the windmill. The fighting was over by 6 o'clock with the surviving Hunters either laying down their arms or fleeing the battle field under the cover of darkness.
