The Battle of Beaver Dams was a small battle in 1813 during the War of 1812 between a force of Mohawk, Odawa, and British against a larger army of Americans. The battle was won by a series of ruses staged by the British commander, Lieutenant James Fitzgibbon.

When Fitzgibbon was told by Laura Secord of American invasion plans, he assembled a group of around 50 British soldiers as well as bands of Native American allies and attempted to ambush the American force. After some fighting, Fitzgibbon realised that he had little chance of winning, so he asked for a truce and met with the American commander. Fitzgibbon lied, telling the Americans that he was leading only the advance unit of a huge British force, and that if the Americans wouldn't surrender to him, they would have to face an all-out assault from thousands of British troops. Not believing him, the Americans asked to speak with the General commanding the British forces.

A British general who had nothing to do with the fighting had been found riding through the woods. Fitzgibbon convinced him to lie to the Americans and pretend to be the commander of a large British army that was about to attack. He played along and managed to convince the Americans to surrender. The American commander had one last sticking point: he requested that the entire British force show itself before he surrendered. Fitzgibbon refused, knowing that if he followed the request, the Americans would realise that there were only 50 British soldiers. He finally managed to persuade the American commander to surrender anyway.

A second British general showed up at the scene. He countermanded Fitzgibbon, and ordered that the British troops show themselves. In a last-ditch effort to avoid the ensuing embarrassment, Fitzgibbon told the general, in a voice loud enough for the American soldiers to hear, that if the Americans did not surrender immediately, they would most likely all be massacred by the Native Americans. The American troops were so afraid of this that they surrendered immediately.

"The Odawa fought the battle, the Mohawks got the plunder and Fitzgibbon got the credit."