COVINGTON - NEW YORK
County sub-division
Location: 42.83976 North,
78.01159 West
Zip codes: 14525, 14591
Population in 1990: 1,266
Number of dwellings: 447
Land area: 67.691 sq. kms.
Water area: 0 sq.kms.
Elevation: 1107 feet
Situated in Wyoming County, New York
FORT COVINGTON – NEW YORK
Location: 44.94856 North,
74.49168 West
Zip codes: 12916, 12937
Population in 1990: 1,676
Number of dwellings: 651
Land area: 95.196 sq. kms.
Water area: 0 sq.kms.
A small village in Franklin
County, on Salmon River, 72 miles North West by West of Burlington, Vermont.
Close to Canadian border. Near St Lawrence Seaway, North of Westville Center,
East of Hogansburg and the Saint Regis Indian Reservation.
Fort Covington
(1813-1832):
Named after Brigadier
General Leonard Covington (1788-1813), a Marylander killed at the Battle of
Chrystler's Field, Upper Canada, on November 11, 1813, this substantial brick
and earth fortification was designed in a wedge-shape with walls 10' high and
185' long.
The fort had a powder
house, barracks, guardhouse, and a platform mounting ten 18-pdr. naval guns.
Begun in 1813 and completed in the Spring of 1814, this battery was normally
manned by the U.S. Sea Fencibles.
During the battle, it was
commanded by Lt. Henry Newcomb, whose 80 seamen from the USS Guerriere successfully
repulsed a flanking maneuver by British longboats. Dismantled in 1832, the
fort's bricks were used in Fort McHenry's seawall.
No marker identifies the
site today; however, the new Baltimore Sun plant occupies the general
area of the fort. Fort Covington can be seen in the far right of A. J.
Miller's panorama painting in the Visitor Center.
"Fort Covington Namesake Died Leading
Troops"
- article by Erik M Zissu -
Times Statt Writer
FORT COVINGTON - A British
sharpshooter leveled his weapon and shortened the life of Brigadier General
Leonard Covington 176 years ago.
"He fell where he always
fought, at the head of his men, and survived but two days," according to
a serialization of a work by historian Leonard Jamison.
General Covington was killed
while on horseback leading his brigade in what has come to be known as the
Battle of Chrysler's Field, which was fought in nearby Upper Canada Village on
Nov. 11,1813. The anniversary of that battle this year coincided with Veterans
Day.
Fort Covington, previously
named French Mills, was named after the general who was brought to the shores
of the Franklin County town where he died. But the body of General Covington
was taken to Sackets Harbor in Jefferson County, along with the bodies of his
aides who had also fallen during combat, on a barge in 1821.
Historian Robert J. Brennan
who says he has the most complete records of military cemeteries in Sackets
Harbor, had said it is uncertain whether the grave of the Maryland-born general
will ever be located. But he had been trying to interest a newspaper in
Covington, Kentucky, in starting a drive to place a marker at Sackets Harbor
commemorating the General and his courageous leadership.
Despite this project, the acts
of General Covington have been revived somewhat by the placement of historical
markers around Fort Covington in recent years.
And in 1987, the Fort
Covington Sun published 29 excerpts from Mr. Jamison's work about the
little-known general Fort Covington Town Historian Jacqueline Harvey supplied
several pieces of this historical writing that illuminates the general's last
days and his death:
Through the fall of 1813, the
American Army was battling the British and their fleet, a Canadian militia and
various Indian bands. General Coviington participated in several of these
conflicts that raged on both present-day U.S. soil as well as on the Canadian
side of the St. Lawrence River.
On Nov.10, 11 days after the
general's 45th birthday, a contingent of soldiers and an accompanying flotilla
moved down the river near Upper Canada Village. That night, the soldiers were
forced to lie on their weapons to keep them dry from a heavy rain. Voicing
apprehension about the ferocity of the engagements up to that point, the
soldiers forced General Covington to address them regarding their duties.
"We have no choice but to
onward because without independence and liberty, there would be no
choice," the general is supposed to have said.
Whether these words had a
calming effect on the soldiers, the brigade was up in the morning and
continued to march along the St. Lawrence River toward Chrysler's Field. The
British also advanced as the opposing sides reached the field. General
Covington was not required to participate in the battle, but did so to aid the
American approach.
As he rode with his men into
the fight, General Covington moved toward the British artillery. After pushing
them back from the left side of the attack, he attracted the attention of a
group of sharpshooters who were holed up in a house on the field.
"At this critical moment,
while bravely leading his men, he was shot through the body. His fall
disconcerted the brigade and a shower of grape shot at that moment scourged it
severely," one account of the battle reads.
From the battlefield, the
General was brought across the river and up the Big Salmon River to a house in
French Mills Three days later, he died and was buried, only to be later taken
to Sackets Harbor where the regiment was stationed.
UPDATE
Until 2001, the location of the general's grave, as well as that of Gen. Zebulon Montgomery Pike, who were the only generals to die during the War of 1812, was not known, but it has now been found, but not yet marked at Mount Covington cemetery at Sackets Harbor, NY. Info sent by Gary O'Dell of Sackets Harbor, 2006 states "Efforts to have markers for these 1812 ers are in process. The condition of his burial site is a National disgrace."
