Lake Erie to request sailors and supplies for his squadron and was temporarily serving as one of Chauncey's senior officers, reconnoitred the landing sites at the mouth of the Niagara River, taking bearings and placing marker buoys. At Fort George, the Americans planned to land on the shore of the lake rather than on the shore of the Niagara River. The troops would be supported as they landed by twelve schooners, each mounting one or more heavy cannon, which could approach the shore closely. Two larger vessels, the corvette and the brig would engage the nearest British batteries. The American army numbered approximately 4,000 regular infantry. The force was divided into four waves, which would land in succession. The first wave was to be commanded by Scott himself, the second by Brigadier General John Parker Boyd, a professional soldier, and the third by Brigadier General William H. Winder, a recently commissioned lawyer. A brigade under a political appointee, Brigadier General John Chandler, formed the reserve, together with most of the artillery under Colonel Alexander Macomb. The Army's second-in-command, Major General Morgan Lewis, was nominally in overall command of the landing force. Dearborn, the commander in chief, would observe from aboard Madison. As the American preparations proceeded, on May 25 they began to bombard Fort George from their positions along the river and from Fort Niagara, and also from Chauncey's schooners. The gunners in the fort and the nearby batteries were using cannonballs which had been heated in furnaces until they were red-hot, then quickly loaded into cannons and fired. Several log buildings within Fort George burned down, and the women and children in the fort were forced to take shelter within the bastions. British situation The commander of the British forces on the Niagara peninsula was Brigadier General John Vincent. He had 1,000 regular soldiers (the bulk of the 1st battalion of the 8th (King's) Regiment and the 49th Regiment, with detachments of the Royal Newfoundland Fencibles and the Glengarry Light Infantry). There were also up to 300 militia present, including Captain Runchey's Company of Coloured Men. Although Vincent knew that an assault was imminent, he could not know from which direction it would come. To try to cover the entire threatened front, he split his regulars into three detachments and would counterattack the Americans when they landed. Most regulars were placed on the Niagara River, assuming that the Americans