On May 27, 1813, the Americans captured Fort George and then marched from Niagara to Grimsby. On June 4, 1813, 3700 American soldiers arrived at Grimsby and spent several days preparing for their attack on Stoney Creek. While they occupied Grimsby, they ransacked the farms, while taking food and other provisions from the locals.
While in Grimsby, the Americans came to the Stone Shop and forced William Nixon to shoe their horses. William Nixon was a member of the 4th Lincoln Militia which was fighting against the Americans. He purposely shoed their horses improperly and many of them came up lame on the way to the Battle of Stoney Creek. After the Americans lost the Battle of Stoney Creek, they retreated back to Grimsby, and set up camp at the mouth of the Forty Mile Creek. The Americans were eventually forced out of Grimsby when several large British ships, under the command of Sir James Lucas Yeo, pounded their camp with cannon fire. This is known as the Engagement at the Forty. A combined force of British Regulars, 4th and 5th Lincoln Militia and Native Allies chased the Americans back to the border. The Americans remembered what the Blacksmith at the Stone Shop had done to their horses and took William Nixon prisoner as they retreated back to the US. He spent six months in a prison camp near Buffalo, New York, but eventually escaped and swam across the Niagara River. With the help of the Native Allies, he made it back to Grimsby where he continued to work as a Blacksmith at the Stone Shop.


