Popular sentiment in the States held that Canadians were eager to overthrow British rule and form a republic patterned after the American model.

Organized in secret neo-Masonic lodges, and with widespread support in the northern border states from Vermont to Wisconsin, the Patriot Hunters aimed to invade Canada and lead an army of insurgent Canadians against the British colonial government.

Prescott is the site of Fort Wellington, a British military fortification that commanded the St. Lawrence River and was serving as a fortified depot for the Upper Canadian militia.

To initiate the strike, a large group of Hunters assembled in Sackets Harbor, New York, and descended the river to Ogdensburg in civilian vessels.

Overall military command of the invading forces was held by John Birge, a senior member of the Hunter organization in New York state.

Later in the morning, Bill Johnston, Admiral of the Hunter navy, arrived and freed the stranded vessels, which then ran downriver to Windmill Point, a promontory located approximately two miles east of Prescott.

Here, most of the Hunter forces landed to occupy the hamlet of Newport and its most prominent feature, a large, stone windmill building that enjoyed a panoramic view of the St. Lawrence River as far west as Brockville and eastwards over the Gallop Rapids.

Law enforcement and military officials in Ogdensburg secured available vessels, and most of the prominent Hunter leaders fled from town to avoid arrest.